DITERPENES FROM THE AERIAL PART OF SALVIA-COLUMBARIAE

The new diterpenes 11,12-di-O-methylrosmanol and 11,12-di-O-methylcarnosol, together with the known compounds carnosic acid, carnosol, rosmanol, epirosmanol, isorosmanol, salvicanol and rosmadial were isolated from the aerial part of Salvia columbariae. The structures of the new diterpenes were established from their spectral data and by chemical correlations. The co-occurence of all these compounds in a single species provides further support of our previously postulated biogenetic pathway to highly oxidized abietatriene compounds involving enzymatic dehydrogenation processes and the participation of singlet oxygen.