Chang Hong Huo

Echinopines A and B: sesquiterpenoids possessing an unprecedented skeleton from Echinops spinosus.

Echinopines A (1) and B (2), novel sesquiterpenoids with an unprecedented rearranged skeleton named echinopane, were isolated from the roots of Echinops spinosus. The structures were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic analysis. The relative configuration of 1 was assigned by a combination of NOESY correlations and a simulation analysis. A plausible biosynthetic pathway for echinopane was discussed.

Chemical and pharmacological research on plants from the genus Senecio.

by Yan Yanga)b), Lei Zhaoa)b), Yu-Fang Wanga), Man-Li Changa), Chang-Hong Huoa), Yu-Cheng Gua)c), Qing-Wen Shi*a), and Hiromasa Kiyota*d) a) Department of Medicinal Natural Product Chemistry, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang 050017, P. R. China (phone: þ86-311-86265634; e-mail: shiqingwen@hebmu.edu.cn) b) The Tumor Hospital of Yunnan Province, the Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, 519 Kunzhou Road, Kunming 650118, P. R. China c) Jealott s Hill International Research Centre, Syngenta, Berkshire, RG426EY, UK d) Laboratory of Applied Bioorganic Chemistry, Division of Life Science, Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, TohokuUniversity, 1-1 Tsutsumidori-Amamiya, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 981-8555, Japan (phone/fax: þ81-22-7178785; e-mail: kiyota@biochem.tohoku.ac.jp)

Chemical and pharmacological studies of the plants from genus Celastrus.

The plants of genus Celastrus, distributed in Asia, have been used as natural insecticides and folk medicines to treat fever, chill, joint pain, edema, rheumatoid arthritis, and bacterial infection in China for a long time. This contribution reviews the chemical constituents, 1–144, isolated from the plants in genus Celastrus in the past few decades, and their biological activities. The compounds listed are sesquiterpenes (β‐agarofurans), diterpenes, triterpenes, alkaloids, and flavonoids.

Antitumour activities of sesquiterpene lactones from Inula helenium and Inula japonica.

3 Eight sesquiterpene lactones were isolated from the roots of Inula helenium and fl owers of I. japonica. Among them, isoalantolactone () and santamarine (6) exhibited significant growth inhibitory activities against gynecologic cancer cell lines, while others weakly inhibited the growth of the cell lines (IC50 ≤ 100 μM). In addition, 3 significantly inhibited the tumour growth of S180 tumour-bearing mice. Compounds 3 and 6 were not toxic to human embryonic lung fibroblast cells in vitro. These results demonstrated that the antitumour activities are closely related to the structures of the compounds, that is, an α-exomethylene- γ-lactone ring is necessary for these activities.

A Novel Taxane 13-Glucoside and Other Taxanes from the Leaves of Taxus cuspidata

Three new taxanes, 2 α,9 α,10 β-triacetoxy-13 α-( β-D-glucopyranosyloxy)taxa-4(20),11-dien-5 α-ol, 5 α,10 β,13 α-triacetoxytax-11-ene-2 α,7 β,9 α,20-tetraol, and 5 α,10 β,13 β-triacetoxy-2 α,7 β-dihydroxy-2(3→20) abeotaxa-4(20),11-dien-9-one, were isolated from the leaves of the Japanese yew, Taxus cuspidata. Compound 1 is the first example of a taxane with 13-glycosidic linkage.

Xylomexicanins A and B, new Δ14,15-mexicanolides from seeds of the Chinese mangrove Xylocarpus granatum.

Two new mexicanolide-type limonoids, named xylomexicanin A (1) and xylomexicanin B (2), were isolated from seeds of the Chinese mangrove Xylocarpus granatum. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic methods. Compound 1 exhibited antiproliferative activity against human breast carcinoma cells (KT), while 2 did not show inhibitory effects on eleven human tumour cell lines tested.

Millifolides A–C. New 1,10-Seco-guaianolides from the Flowers of Achillea millefolium

Ten 1,10-secoguaianolides were isolated from the flowers of Achillea millefolium. Their structures were determined on the basis of spectroscopic methods. Three of them (millifolides A-C) including two dimeric sesquiterpenoids exhibit new skeletons. Seco-tanapartholide A exhibited moderate cell growth inhibitory activity against the human cancer cell line MCF7WT (IC50 = 5.51 μm) in vitro. Graphical Abstract Millifolides A–C. New 1,10-Seco-guaianolides from the Flowers of Achillea millefolium

The first taxane peroxide from the rooted cuttings of Taxus canadensis

Abstract A new taxane peroxide, 4α,10β,13α-acetoxy-2α-benzoyloxy-7β,9α-epidioxy-5β,20-epoxytax-11-en-1β-ol (1), was isolated and characterized for the first time in rooted cuttings of the Canadian yew, Taxus canadensis.

Two new phytoecdysteroids from the needles of Taxus canadensis.

Two new phytoecdysteroids with a 20,22-acetal group were identified for the first time from the needles of the Canadian yew, Taxus canadensis. Their structures were characterized as ponasterone A 20,22-p-hydroxybenzylidene acetal (1) and ponasterone A 20,22-acetonide (2) on the basis of 1D, 2D NMR evidence and high-resolution FABMS analysis Graphical Abstract Two New Phytoecdysteroids from the Needles of Taxus canadensis

Arteminal, a New Eudesmane Sesquiterpenolide from Artemisia frigida

Arteminal, a novel eudesmane sesquiterpenoid, was isolated from the whole plant of Artemisia frigida. The structure was characterized on the basis of spectroscopic methods.