Ingol and ent-Atisane diterpenes from the aerial parts of Euphorbia deightonii

Plants of the Euphorbiaceae family display high diversity of structurally unique diterpenoids, which have attracted great interest from biogenetic, synthetic, biological and toxicological point of view. Euphorbia deightonii Croizat is a thorny succulent plant, which grows to 6 m in height. It is endemic to western Africa. In Nigeria, this species is used in folk medicine as a wart remover, and for treatment of leprosy and woman sterility [1]. The irritancy of the latex in a mouse ear inflammatory assay was demonstrated, and subsequently the presence of ingenol esters was reported [2], [3]. In the course of our phytochemical study the aerial parts of E. deightonii investigated in order to identify further diterpenes. Fractionation of methanol extract by a combination of solvent-solvent partition, open column chromatography and HPLC afforded six ingol derivatives (1-6) and one ent-atisane type diterpene (7). Their structures were established on the basis of 1D and 2D NMR analysis. All compounds were isolated from E. deightonii for the first time.

Fig. 1

• References

• 1 Soladoye MO, Oyesiku OO. Taxonomy of Nigerian medicinal plants. In Odugbemi T. editor. A textbook of medicinal plants from Nigeria. Lagos: University of Lagos Press; 2008: 93-150
• 2 Kinghorn AD, Evans FJ. A biological screen of selected species of the genus Euphorbia for skin irritant effects. Planta Med 1975; 28: 325-335
• 3 Abo KA. Isolation of ingenol from the latices of Euphorbia and Elaeophorbia species. Fitoterapia 1990; 61: 462-463