Rhodomyrtone, an antibotic from Rhodomyrtus tomentosa

Abstract

The ethyl acetate extract of the leaves of Rhodomyrtus tomentosa (Ait.) Hassk. yielded rhodomyrtone (5) [6,8-dihydroxy-2,2,4,4-tetramethyl-7-(3-methyl-1-oxobutyl)-9-(2-methylpropyl)-4,9-dihydro-1H-xanthene-1,3(2H)-di-one] which had significant activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The structural elucidation followed from spectroscopic evidence and from a single-crystal X-ray structural determination.