Two new phenolic compounds from the leaves of Alnus sibirica Fisch. ex Turcz.

The chemical structures of these compounds were elucidated using 1D/2D nuclear magnetic resonance and high resolution-MS. The anti-oxidative activities of these compounds were determined by assaying their 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical and nitroblue tetrazolium superoxide anion scavenging activity.

All of the isolated phenolic compounds ( 1 – 10 ) exhibited potent anti-oxidative activities. In particular, 2 and 4, which are diarylheptanoids, and 10 which is ellagitannin exhibited excellent anti-oxidative activities with almost the same potency as that of the positive controls L -ascorbic acid and allopurinol.