I I n n t t e e r r n n a a t t i i o o n n a a l l J J o o u u r r n n a a l l o o f f C Ch h e e m mi i c c a a l l a a n n d d N Na a t t u u r r a a l l S S c c i i e e n n c c e e Vol. 3, No. 1 (2015): 200-204 Research Article Open Access ISSN: 2347-6672 Isolation and Characterization of Urticol from Urtica Dioica Leaves Charles K. Rono 1 *, Clare I. Muhanji 2 and Geoffrey K. Maiyoh 3 1 Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Eldoret, P.O Box 1125-30100, Eldoret-Kenya 2 Department of Chemical Sciences and Technology, Technical University of Kenya, P.O Box 58428-00200, Nairobi-Kenya 3 Department of Medical Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Moi University, P.O Box 3900-30100, Eldoret-Kenya * Corresponding author: Charles K. Rono; email: ronock13@gmail.com ABSTRACT Urtica dioica (UD) leaves have been used in folk medicine as an herbal remedy to diabetes. The present study sought to isolate compounds from dichloromethane extract of UD. Dichloromethane extract was subjected to silica gel column chromatography under increasing gradient of dichloromethane in hexane, and ethylacetate in dichloromethane. This led to isolation of four pure compounds (1, 2, 3, and 4). Spectroscopic analysis revealed that compound is novel while 2, 3, 4 were terpenoids. The structure of compound 1 was elucidated using MS, IR, 1D- and 2D-NMR experiments while that of the terpenoids were obtained by comparison of its 1 H NMR data with the previously isolated terpenoids. Compound 1 was characterized as 1 ’ -hydroxy-1’,4’,7-trimethylcyclohex-2- ylnaphthalene and given the trivial name urticol. Studies are ongoing to establish the mechanism of action of the urticol from UD as antidiabetic. Keywords: column chromatography, isolates, recrystallization, Urtica dioica, urticol. 1.0 INTRODUCTION Diabetes is a clinical syndrome characterized by hyperglycemia caused by a relative or absolute deficiency of insulin at the cellular level. It is the most common endocrine disorder affecting mankind all over the world, prevalence of which is increasing every day [1, 2]. Despite the availability of many synthetic drugs, a large number of diabetic patients seek herbal medication to relieve the symptoms of the disease [5, 6]. One of the antidiabetic plant sources is Urtica dioica, commonly known as the stinging nettle. Urtica dioica (UD) in folk medicine of most cultures has emerged the best drug candidate as antidiabetic [7]. UD is a erbaceous perennial plant native to Europe, Asia, North America and Africa [3]. In Kenya, the plant is native to Rift Valley, Central and Western parts of Received: 06 December 2014 Accepted: 25 December 2014 Online: 02 January 2015