Studies on chemical constituents of A. wilkesiana var. golden-yellow (Muell & Arg.) syn. A. wilkesiana var. tropical tempest used in
traditional medicine, was carried out with solvent-partitioning of the aqueous extract of the plant with various organic solvents and
subjecting the organic phases to silica gel column chromatography. Two compounds could be isolated from the butanol fraction which were
assigned as 4-ethoxy-4-oxobutanoic acid (ethyl succinate) and 2-ethoxy-5(hydroxymethyl)-oxalane-3,4-diol (ethyl β-riboside) using the 1H
NMR, 13C NMR, MS and IR spectral techniques. Both compounds were inactive against B. subtilis, S. aureus and E. coli. and showed
minimal activity against Ps. aeruginosa, S. typhi and V. cholerae, and they had no anticandidal activity. The two isolates would serve as
chemotaxonomic markers for this species and variety in particular and the genus, Acalypha in general.
Key words: ethyl succinate, ethyl β-riboside, A. wilkesiana var. golden-yellow (Muell & Arg.).
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