Stigmasterol from Eichhornia crassipes (water hyacinth) : Isolation, characterization and X-ray structure

Abstract

Chemical investigation of Eichhornia crassipes (water hyacinth) collected from the back waters of Kochin, southern India lead to isolation of an oxygenated sterol, stigmasterol (1). The molecular formula of 1 was determined to be C 29 H 48 O by combination of NMR and mass spectroscopic data. The sterol was fully characterized by FTIR, NMR ( 1 H and 13 C) and mass spectral data. Solid state structure of the sterol was determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction. The compound crystalizes in the chiral monoclinic space group P2 1 with a solution optical rotation [α] D = -35° (c 0.16, CHCl 3 ).