Description:
<jats:p> The last of nine lignans detectable by thin-layer chromatography in the hot-water soluble extractives of western red cedar (Thujaplicata Donn) heartwood has been determined as 6-hydroxy-2(hydroxy-methyl)-7-methoxy-4-(3′,4′-dihydroxy-5′-methoxyphenyl)-3-naphthoic acid lactone (plicatinaphthalene 2) by spectrometric methods, by degradation studies of derivatives, and by preparation of its trimethyl ether derivative 3 from dehydroanhydropicropodophyllin by opening of the methylenedioxy group with boron trichloride. </jats:p>