Chem. Pharm. Bull. 54(8) 1229—1233 (2006)

Rhodiola rosea L. (Crassulaceae), also known as golden root or rose root, is a perennial herbaceous plant widely distributed at high altitudes in the arctic and mountainous regions throughout Europe and Asia. The roots of R. rosea are traditionally used as a tonic and adaptpgen in Russia, and also as a hemostatic in Tibetan folk medicine. Various pharmacological effects of the roots of R. rosea have been reported, such as improvement of the memory and learning abilities, anti-stress and anticancer effects, etc. 1,2) Previous chemical investigation on R. rosea has demonstrated the occurrence of over thirty compounds, belonging to the phenylethanoids, phenylpropanoides, flavonoids, phenolic acids, cyanoglycosides, monoterpenoids, and triterpenes. Results and Discussion The air-dried roots of R. rosea were extracted with 80% aqueous EtOH. The extract was concentrated, suspended in H 2 O and then partitioned successively with CHCl 3 , EtOAc and n-BuOH. The n-BuOH-soluble fraction was evaporated under reduced pressure and fractionated using silica gel and ODS columns. Further purification by repeated reversedphase HPLC afforded five new monoterpene glycosides, rhodiolosides A-E (1-5). Rhodioloside A (1) was isolated as a colorless viscous oil. The molecular formula was established as C 16 H 28 O 8 by highresolution (HR)-FAB-MS. On acidic hydrolysis, 1 afforded D-glucose, which was identified by gas-liquid chromatography (GLC) analysis of its trimethylsilyl thiazolidine derivative