Two drimane lactones, valdiviolide and 11-epivaldiviolide, in the form of a 1:1 cocrystal obtained from Drimys winteri extracts

摘要

The folk medicinal plant Drimys winteri (Winteraceae) is a slender tree native to the Magellanic and Valdivian temperate rain forests of Chile (where it is locally called 'Canelo'). The tree bark is rich in drimane sesquiterpenoids as secondary metabolites, some of which present intense pungent and potent antifeedant, antimicrobial, plant-growth inhibitory, cytotoxic and piscicidal activities. A paradigmatic example of these multifunctional sesquiterpenoids is polygodial (Kubo et al., 2005; Jansen & de Groot, 2004). It is perhaps worth mentioning that these properties of Canelo bark have been known for a long time by the native Araucanean people who used these compounds in their ancient medicinal rituals.