Glycosides of magnolia. II. Structural elucidation of magnolidin.

Magnolidin, the major glycoside of Magnolia grandiflora L. consists of two moles of rhamnose, and each of glucose, caffeic acid and 3,4-dihydroxyphenethanol. Based on degradative and spectroscopic evidence, a structure is proposed for magnolidin as one of two possible alternatives which differ with respect to the position occupied by the O-caffeyl unit.