Terpenoids with anti-influenza activity from the leaves of Euphorbia leucocephala

Abstract

Two rearranged terpenoids with a rare 3,4,5-trimethyl-cyclohexa-2,5-dien-1-one moiety, namely leucocephins A (1) and B (2), and a megastigmane, namely leucocephin C (3), as well as three known compounds, hollongdione (4), 3-acetoxy-lup-12,20(29)-diene (5), and β-amyrin acetate (6) were isolated from the leaves of Euphorbia leucocephala. Their structures and absolute configurations were determined by spectroscopic methods and comparing with literature data. Compounds 4–6 exhibited potent anti-influenza A virus activity comparable to the positive control, betulinic acid.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Euphorbia leucocephala
• megastigmane
• leucocephins A–C
• anti-IAV activity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The authors are grateful for financial support from the Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan (MOST106-2320-B-039-021) awarded to C.-H.C.