The seeds of the plant Orychophragmus violaceus yielded eight new spermidine alkaloids, termed orychophragmuspine A-H (1-8). Their structures were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic analysis and comparison with literature data. Compounds 1-8 are unusual natural alkaloids with spermidine moieties and were tested for cytoprotective properties. The results showed that all compounds displayed mild cytoprotective activities compared with the normal and model groups. © 2017 The Royal Society of Chemistry.