7 alpha,20-Epoxy-ent-kaurane Diterpenoids from the Aerial Parts of Isodon pharicus

A phytochemical investigation of an ethyl acetate extract of the aerial parts of Isodon pharicus led to the isolation of 21 new 7 alpha,20-epoxy-ent-kaurane diterpenoids, pharicins C-W (1-21), and 29 known (22-50) analogues. The structural characterization of 1-21 and assignment of their relative configurations were accomplished by spectroscopic data interpretation, while the structures of 1 and 16 were confirmed by X-ray crystallography. The absolute stereostructure of 1 was confirmed by electronic circular dichroism data analysis. Twenty-five of the diterpenoids were screened for their cytotoxic activities against a panel of tumor cell lines, including HL-60, SMMC-7721, A-549, MCF-7, and SW-480. Compounds 11, 16, 38, and 48 exhibited inhibitory activities against these tumor cell lines with IC50 values ranging from 1.01 to 9.62 mu M, while 2, 15, 29, and 47 exhibited moderate cytotoxic potency.