Three new dihydrobenzophenantridine alkaloids, zanthoisobutylamides A-C (2-4), consisting of a rare 6-alkylamide dihydrochelerythrine moiety, and two new small molecules of the unsaturated alkylamide, zanthoxylumamide J (1) and of phenylpropanoid, methyl 2-hydroxy-3,4-dimethoxycinnamate (5) together with 44 known compounds were isolated from the roots of Zanthoxylum nitidum. The structures of these compounds were established by analysis of spectroscopic data and comparison of their spectroscopic data with those previously published data. Some isolated compounds were evaluated for their cytotoxic activities.
Keywords: Zanthoxylum nitidum; alkylamide; dihydrobenzophenanthridine; phenylpropanoid.