Four sesquiterpene lactones, astrodaucanolide A - D (1: -4: ) with unique structures, toghether with two known phenylpropanoid esters (5: and 6: ) were isolated from a flower extract of Astrodaucus orientalis. The structures were established by 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy and high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRESIMS), and the absolute configuration of 1: -4: was determined by electronic circular dichroism (ECD). Compounds 1: -4: novel architecture represents a new class of sesquiterpenes with new skeleton. A putative biosynthetic pathway for their scaffold is proposed with a germacryl cation as the precursor. The suggested biosynthesis pathway is similar to that of eudesmane sesquiterpenes with a different direction of protonation which then leads to the new skeleton, named astrodaucane by the 1,2-methyl migration.
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