Matatabi (Actinidia polygamy Miq., Actinidiaceae) is widely distributed in this country. It is well known from early times that the leaf, the fruit, and the root of this plant show special biological activity in Felidae animals. Although significant chemical studies were carried out, the isolation and structure elucidation of the active principles were not reported until 1959. We isolated two active principles from the methanol extract of the leaf and the fruit of matatabi, a lactone C_<10>H_<16>O_2 named matatabilactone (1), and a base C_<10>H_<13>N named actinidine (2), in 0.0035 and 0.12% yield, respectively. Herein the structure study and the synthesis of 1 and 2 will be discussed.
