The essential oil and the major non-volatile secondary metabolites from the leaves of Piper subscutatum (Miq.) C. DC. (Family Piperaceae), collected in the Ecuadorian Amazon, were analyzed for the first time in the present study. The essential oil was submitted to chemical and enantioselective analyses by GC-MS and GC-FID. (E)-β-caryophyllene (25.3-25.2%), β-chamigrene (10.3-7.8%), (E)-nerolidol (8.1-7.7%), β-selinene (7.2-7.7%), δ-cadinene (2.7-3.9%), bicyclogermacrene (3.7-2.4%), and β-pinene (2.6-3.4%) were the major components. The enantioselective analysis, carried out on a β-cyclodextrin-based column, showed four scalemic mixtures in which (1R,5R)-(+)-α-pinene, (1S,5S)-(-)-β-pinene, (S)-(-)-limonene, and (1R,2S,6S,7S,8S)-(-)-α-copaene were the major enantiomers, with enantiomeric excesses of 28.8%, 77.8%, 18.4%, and 6.0%, respectively. The study was complemented with the chemical analysis of the organic fraction dissolved in the hydrolate, whose major components were 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one (63.7-64.4%) and linalool (6.5-6.0%). Concerning the non-volatile fraction, five lignans were the major components. (-)-Beilshminol B, (-)-grandisin, (-)-3',4'-methylenedioxy-3,4,5-trimethoxy-7,7'-epoxylignan, (-)-3',4'-methylenedioxy-3,4,5,5'-tetramethoxy-7,7'-epoxylignan, and (-)-3,4,3',4'-dimethylenedioxy-5,5'-dimethoxy-7,7'-epoxylignan were identified by means of NMR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry and X-ray crystallography. The absolute configuration 7S,8S,7'S,8'S was tentatively assigned to all of them.
Keywords: 7,7′-epoxylignans; Artanthe scutata; Ecuador; Piper subscutatum; Piperaceae; enantioselective analysis; essential oil.