Secundarellone A, B, and C from the leaves of Justicia secunda VAHL

The extract of the leaves of Justicia secunda VAHL (Acanthaceae) was subjected to column chromatography on Sephadex LH-20, silica gel, and RP-18e to yield a pure substance (1) and an equimolar mixture of diastereomers (2 and 3). MS and extensive NMR measurements led to the structure elucidation of these new N-arylpyrrolidones as 3-hydroxy-1-(2'-hydroxy-4',5'-dimethoxyphenyl)pyrrolidin-2-one (1), cis-3,5-dihydroxy-1-(2'-hydroxy-4',5'-dimethoxyphenyl)pyrrolidin-2-one (2), and trans-3,5-dihydroxy-1-(2'-hydroxy-4',5'-dimethoxyphenyl)pyrrolidin-2-one (3). They are named secundarellone A (1), B (2) and C (3) and are the first pyrrolidones isolated from the family of Acanthaceae.