Isolation and characterization of sesquiterpenes from Celastrus orbiculatus and their antifungal activities against phytopathogenic fungi.

Celastrus orbiculatus is an insecticidal plant belonging to the Celastraceae family. In this survey on the secondary metabolites of plants for obtaining bioactive substances to serve agriculture, the chemical constituents of the fruits of C. orbiculatus were investigated. This phytochemical investigation resulted in the isolation of nine new and one known sesquiterpene. Their structures, especially the complicated stereochemical features, were elucidated on the basis of extensive NMR spectroscopic data analyses, time-dependent density functional theory CD calculations, and the CD exciton chirality method. Biological screenings disclosed that these sesquiterpenes showed antifungal activities against six phytopathogenic fungi. The results of our phytochemical investigation further disclosed the chemical components of C. orbiculatus, and biological screening implied that it may be potentially useful to protect crops against phytopathogenic fungi and the bioactive compounds may be regarded as candidate agents of antifungal agrochemicals for crop protection products.