Sesquiterpene Lactones with Potent Cytotoxic Activities from Vernonia chinensis

Abstract

Five new sesquiterpene lactones, namely vernchinilides A - E (1 - 5), along with five known compounds, 8β-(2-methylacryloyloxy)hirsutinolide 13-O-acetate (6), 8α-(2-methylacryloyloxy)-1β,4β-epoxy-1α-methoxy-13-O-acetate-10βH-germacra-5E,7(11)-dien-12,6-olide (7), 8β-(2-hydroxymethylacryloyloxy)hirsutinolide 13-O-acetate (8), 8α-tigloyloxyhirsutinolide 13-O-acetate (9) and vernolide-B (10) were isolated from Vernonia chinensis. The structures of these new compounds were elucidated on the basis of spectral data, especially 2D-NMR techniques. Compounds 2, 5 and 6 exhibited potent cytotoxic activities against P-388 and A-549 tumor cell lines.

Key words

Vernonia chinensis - sesquiterpenes - hirsutinolides - vernchinilides A - E - cytotoxic activity

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