Additional Insights into Hypericum perforatum Content: Isolation, Total Synthesis, and Absolute Configuration of Hyperbiphenyls A and B from Immunomodulatory Root Extracts

International audiencePhytochemical investigation of the root extracts of Hypericum perforatum led to the isolation of two biphenyl derivatives named hyperbiphenyls A and B (1 and 2) and four known xanthones (3−6). These structures were elucidated by spectroscopic and spectrometric methods including UV, NMR, and HRMS. The absolute configuration of the biphenyl derivatives was defined by two different approaches: biomimetic total synthesis of racemic hyper-biphenyl A followed [1]H and [19]F NMR Mosher's esters analysis and stereoselective total synthesis of hyperbiphenyl B, permitting assignment of the S absolute configuration for both compounds. The bioactivity of compounds 1−6 toward a set of biomolecules, including major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules expressed on vascular endothelial cells, was measured. The results showed that the major xanthone, i.e., 5-O-methyl-2-deprenylrheediaxanthone B (3), is a potent inhibitor of MHC that efficiently reduces HLA-E, MHC-II, and MICA biomolecules on cell surfaces