Isolation and Characterization of Phenolic Compounds from the Leaves of Salix matsudana

A bioassay-guided in vitro screen has revealed that a 70% methanol extract of the leaves of Salix matsudana shows considerable inhibitory activity against cyclo-oxygenases (COX-1 and COX-2). A subsequent phytochemical study led to the isolation of a new flavonoid, matsudone A (1), together with five known flavonoids – luteolin (2), isoquercitrin (3), 7-methoxyflavone (4), luteolin 7-O-glucoside (5), 4',7-dihydroxyflavone (6) – and two phenolic glycosides, leonuriside A (7) and piceoside (8). Their structures were elucidated on the basis of extensive 1D- and 2D-NMR studies, high resolution ESI mass spectroscopic analyses and comparisons with literature data. The isolated compounds 1-8 were tested for their inhibitory activities against COX-1 and COX-2. Compounds 1, 5 and 6 were found to have potent inhibitory effect on COX-2 and compounds 3-5 exhibited moderate inhibition against COX-1.