Phenolic compounds from the white flowers of Impatiens balsamina

Impatiens balsamina L. is an annual herbaceous plant of Balsamineaceae family and the flowers of this plant have been used to treat lumbago, neuralgia, burns and scalds. Previous phytochemical studies have led to reports of naphthalene derivatives, triterpene glycosides, and flavonoids associated with anti-microbial, antitumor, anti-allergy, antioxidant, antifungal, and antinociceptive properties. In the course of our continuing search for biologically active compounds from Korean medicinal sources, we investigated the white flowers of I. balsamina. From their MeOH extract, two new phenolic compounds (1 – 2) containing nitrile group and eleven known phenolic compounds (3 – 13) were isolated. The chemical structures of new compounds (1 – 2) were determined through NMR, HRMS, and CD data. We tested the isolated compounds (1 – 13) for their neuroprotective activity by determining their effects on nerve growth factor (NGF) secretion in C6 cells and anti-neuroinflammatory by measuring nitric oxide (NO) production in a lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated BV-2 cells.