Novel metabolites from Pterocarpus marsupium: Structural characterization and biological relevance

Aiming to find novel natural products along with establishing a simple isolation process, here we described the efficient isolation of pterostilbene along with three unreported compounds – di-pterostilbene; 3,5-dimethoxybenzyl alcohol; and 5,5′-(oxybis(methylene))bis(1,3-dimethoxybenzene) from the heartwood of P. marsupium via a simple silica-gel flash column chromatography. A comprehensive structural elucidation of all the isolated compounds was done using spectroscopic techniques such as ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, ¹³C-DEPT135, ¹H–¹H COSY, FT-IR and HRMS. Furthermore, in silico molecular docking studies of newly isolated molecules reveal to exhibit strong binding affinities towards antidiabetic and anticancer targets involved in glucose homeostasis, insulin signalling, and tumor progression. Additionally, in vitro cytotoxicity evaluation against A549 lung carcinoma cells revealed antiproliferative activity, which makes them promising therapeutic agents along with emerging lead scaffolds for antidiabetic and anticancer drug development.