Anthraquinones from <i>Vismia mexicana</i>

⁴Unidad de Investigación en Farmacología, Hospital de Especialidades, Centro Médico Nacional Siglo XXI, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Av. Cuauhtémoc 330, Del. Cuauhtémoc, 06720, México, D. F.

Vismia mexicana (Clusiaceae) is a small tropical tree found from Mexico to Honduras. The CH₂Cl₂/MeOH extract from the leaves has been reported to have inhibitory properties against reverse transcriptase of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1 RT). In order to characterize some of its chemical constituents, the EtOAc-soluble fraction of this extract was subjected to column chromatography. A new natural product was isolated and designated vismiaquinone D [1-hydroxy-6-methoxy-7,8-(3′,3′-dimethyl-pyrano) anthraquinone]. In addition, vismiaquinone was obtained. The structures of vismiaquinone and vismiaquinone D were determined by ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy, unambiguous assignments were achieved with DEPT, HSQC, and HMBC experiments, and corroborated by X-ray diffraction studies. The isolated anthraquinones were tested against HIV-1 RT. However, none showed relevant activity, suggesting that other compounds in this extract may be responsible for its HIV-1 RT inhibitory properties.