Chemical Constituents of the Leaves of Marsilea minuta Linn

Department of Chemistry, Bethune College, Calcutta 700006

An unsymmetrical hydroxyketone, 3-hydroxytriacontan-11-one has been obtained from the petroleum ether extract of the leaves of Marsilea minuta Linn. This is the first report in plant of a C₃₀ ketone with a hydroxyl group. In addition to this a mixture of secondary alcohols with carbon content from C₂₇-C₃₁ has also been found. Alcohols with odd number of carbon atoms are dominant. One of the major components is identical with hentria­contan-16-ol which is prepared synthetically by the borohydride reduction of palmitone. A mixture of normal hydrocarbons with C₂₇, C₂₉, C₃₁ and C₃₃ predominating has also been obtained from this fraction. Methylamine, ft-sitosterol and a waxy material which contain a mixture of hydrocarbons and high molecular weight esters have been obtained from the chloroform extract. The claim of Chatterjee et al. that marsiline, a ketonic compound, m.p. 85°-86° was isolated from this fraction cannot however be substantiated. The alcoholic extract of the leaves contains a saponin which on acid hydrolysis affords a sapogenin m.p. 304°-305°.