Isolation and Structural Elucidation of three Substituted Flavones from Croton Zambesicus (Mull) Fruit and Leaves

Three substituted flavones were isolated from fruit and leaves of C. Zambesicus Mull. The dried plant material was separately soxhlet extracted in 70% ethanol and then re-extracted with petroleum ether, diethyl ether and ethyl acetate. The fractions were concentrated and set to a silica gel column chromatography using different solvent systems. In our continuing phytochemical study of the medicinal plants indigenous in Sudan, we have examined phenolic constituents of Croton Zambesicus. This paper will report our first isolation of three Flavone derivatives from fruits and leaves of Croton Zambesicus, namely 5, 7, 3?, 4?-tetramethoxy-flavone, apigenin-8-C-?-D-glucopyranoside (Vitexin) and 5, 7, 4?-trihydroxyflavone glycoside (Isovitexin). The structure of these compounds were elucidated based on the analysis spectrum of UV, IR, MS and NMR including ID and 2D NMR.