New steroidal alkaloids from Veratrum nigrum L.

Veratrum nigrum L. (Liliaceae) is a poisonous plant. Previous studies have demonstrated that steroidal alkaloids are the main active constituents of this species. Our chemical investigation on the roots and rhizomes of V. nigrum resulted in the isolation of three new steroidal alkaloids. The structures of new steroidal alkaloids were established as, jervine-3β-formate (1), veramarine-3β-formate (2), and jervine-5,11-dien-3β,13β-diol (3) on the basis of spectroscopic analysis. The stereochemistry was determined by chemical shift comparisons with those of the known Veratrum alkaloid. In addition, known steroidal alkaloids were identified as veratramine (4), jervine (5), veratrosine (6), rubijervine (7), isorubjervine (8), veramitaline (9), veraflorizine (10), veramarine (11), veratrobasine (12), and veratvirine (13).

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