Phenolic Acids from the Seeds of Sophora alopecuroides

Chemical profiling of the EtOAc extract from a traditional Chinese medicine Sophora alopecuroides yielded a new phenolic acid, (3S,2R)-methyl 2-(4-hydroxybenzyl)tartrate ( 1 ), along with four known compounds, eucomic acid ( 2 ), methyl eucomate ( 3 ), piscidic acid ( 4 ), and ethyl 2-(4-hydroxybenzyl)tartrate ( 5 ). The structure of 1 was determined by extensive spectral analyses including 1D and 2D NMR and MS data. All compounds were evaluated for their cytotoxic activities against HepG2 and Hep3B hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell lines. Compounds 1–5 showed weak anti-HCC activities.