Aucubin

Other name: aucubin
Molecular formula: C₁₅H₂₂O₉

Molecular weight: 346.32978  
CAS No: 479-98-1

Aucubin is an iridoid glycoside. Iridoids are commonly found in plants and function as defensive compounds. Irioids decrease the growth rates of many generalist herbivores. Aucubin is found in the leaves of Aucuba japonica (Cornaceae), Eucommia ulmoides (Eucommiaceae), and Plantago asiatic (Plantaginaceae), etc, plants used in traditional Chinese and folk medicine. Aucubin was found to protect against liver damage induced by carbon tetrachloride or alpha-amanitin in mice and rats when 80 mg/kg was dosed intraperitoneally.

Aucubin is a monoterpenoid based compound. Aucubin, like all iridoids, has a cyclopentan-[C]-pyran skeleton. Iridoids can consist of ten, nine, or rarely eight carbons in which C11 is more frequently missing than C10. Aucubin has 10 carbons with the C11 carbon missing. The stereochemical configurations at C5 and C9 lead to cis fused rings, which are common to all iridoids containing carbocylclic- or seco-skeleton in non-rearranged form. Oxidative cleavage at C7-C8 bond affords secoiridoids. The last steps in the biosynthesis of iridoids usually consist of O-glycosylation and O-alkylation. Aucubin, a glycoside iridoid, has an O-linked glucose moiety.