A new bisanthraquinone and cytotoxic xanthones from Cratoxylum cochinchinense

Abstract

A new bisanthraquinone has been isolated from the stems of Cratoxylum cochinchinense together with vismiaquinone C and 16 known xanthones. Their structures were characterised by using spectroscopic methods. Two of the isolated compounds are modified xanthones (6 and 15) and exhibited strong cytotoxicity against human epidermoid carcinoma (A341: IC₅₀ 2.01, 1.78 μg/mL) and human breast cancer cell lines (SKBR3: IC₅₀ 1.54, 0.69 μg/mL).

Keywords::

• Cratoxylum cochinchinense
• bisanthraquinone
• xanthones
• cytotoxicity

Acknowledgements

This research was partly supported by a Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Prince of Songkla University. Thanks also to Dr Brian Hodgson for assistance with the English.