A New Ester Isolated from Ferula assa-foetida L.

Abstract

A new caffeic acid cinnamyl ester (1) was isolated from the n-hexane-soluble fraction of an MeOH extract of the gum resin of Ferula assa-foetida L. The structure was determined to be (2E)-3,4-dimethoxycinnamyl-3-(3,4 diacetoxyphenyl) acrylate on the basis of spectroscopic data including 1D- and 2D-NMR. Compound 1 showed moderate activity for inhibiting LPS-induced nitric oxide production in murine macrophage RAW264.7 cells, with an IC₅₀ value of 54.9 μm.