Rorifone

HistoryIn the early 1970s of the last century in China, about 300 kinds of effective Chinese herbal medicines were explored for the treatment of chronic bronchitis, which was carried out as a national program. Rorifonum was obtained and developed under Rorifonumthis historical condition. Two crystals named rorifonum and rorifamide were obtained after studies on the chemical components of Rorippa Montana (Wall.) Small (hancai) by Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica. Using elemental analysis, spectral identification, and mass spectrometry, the chemical structure of these two compounds was finally determined. Rorifonum and rorifamide are the first discovered sulfone compounds with the effects of relieving cough and eliminating phlegm. After a series of pharmacological studies, rorifonum had been proved effective in the expectorant and antibacterial experiments. Clinical trials also revealed that rorifonum has a certain effect of relieving cough and asthma. Synthetic compound of rorifonum and natural product have the same effects. However, the pharmacological effect of rorifamide was not obvious. Meanwhile, in order to find a new drug with higher efficacy and lower toxicity, the researchers synthesized a series of similar compounds, some of them showing significant expectorant activity in the animal models.