Isolation of some Taxanes in leaves of Taxus wallichiana Zucc. collected at Lam Dong province, Vietnam

Taxus wallichiana Zucc. from the Taxaceae family is a woody tree species with dark green, needle-shaped leaves that grow densely along the branches. This tree thrives in temperate climates, found in areas such as the Himalayan mountain range at altitudes between 1800 to 3300 m, and in the hilly regions of Meghalaya and Manipur at around 1500 m. It is a rare and valuable timber species with high medicinal value, primarily due to the presence of taxol, a potent anticancer compound isolated from the bark of the tree. This paper presents the chemical composition of the leaves of Taxus wallichiana Zucc. to contribute data on the chemistry and pharmacological potential of Vietnamese medicinal plants. Using normal-phase silica gel column chromatography combined with preparative thin−layer chromatography, four taxanes were isolated from the CHCl3−soluble fraction of leaves of Taxus wallichiana Zucc., collected at Lam Dong province in January 2021. The isolated compounds included 10-deacetyl taxinine B (1), taxinine B (2), 2-deacetoxytaxinine J (3), and taxumairone A (4). The chemical structures of these compounds were elucidated by 1D and 2D NMR and MS spectra and comparisons to published data. Compound 4 is reported for the first time in the species Taxus wallichiana Zucc.