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Phyllaciduloids E (1) and F (2), two new cleistanthane diterpenoids, were isolated from the leaves of Phyllanthus acidus (L.) Skeels (Phyllanthaceae). Their planar structures were established by spectroscopic analysis and comparison with literature values. The relative configurations of phyllaciduloids E and F were confirmed by DFT-NMR chemical shift calculations and subsequent CP3 probability methods. Phyllaciduloids E and F were evaluated for their cytotoxicity. However, no significant activities were detected at concentrations up to 40 μM.

Salviyunnanone A (1), a cytotoxic diterpenoid possessing an unprecedented 7/5/6/3 ring system derived from a normal abietane skeleton, was characterized from Salvia yunnanensis. Its structure was established by extensive MS and NMR spectroscopic analyses and its absolute configuration was defined by the comparison of experimental and calculated ECDs. The synthetic study of 1 was carried out and its 6-epi-isomer (12) was achieved in 9 steps involving the conjugated addition of an aryl boronic acid as a key step.

The young leaves of Phyllanthus acidus (Euphorbiaceae) are commonly used as edible vegetables in Indonesia, Thailand, and India, and their water infusions as dieting aids for people trying to remain slim. However, it is regarded as a poisonous plant in Malaya, and current researches are insufficient to provide a conclusion on its toxicity and safety under large doses. In this study, we firstly found that the refined nonpolar extracts of P. acidus leaves showed significant cytotoxic effect against BEAS-2B and L02 normal cell lines with IC50 values of 2.15 and 1.64 mg/mL, respectively. Further bioactivity-guided isolation produced four new rare dichapetalins (pacidusins A–D) from the most active fraction. Their structures including absolute configurations were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic data and X-ray diffraction analysis. All the isolated dichapetalins exhibited moderate cytotoxicity against, BEAS-2B and L02 normal cell lines with IC50 values ranging from 12.44 to 22.55 μM, as well as five human cancer cell lines with IC50 values ranging from 3.38 to 22.38 μM. Furthermore, the content of the main dichapetalins in the leaves were determined by analytical HPLC, which showed that the leaves contained a very high amount of the four isolated dichapetalins with a total yield of 0.488 mg/g of dry plant material. These toxic dichapetalins may lead to adverse health effects in higher doses. Our findings indicate that the dichapetalin containing leaves may not be suitable for consumption in large quantities as food, but demonstrate their potency as anti-cancer agents for new drug discovery.

Catalytic asymmetric formal synthesis of (−)-Triptophenolide and (+)-Triptolide have been achieved. Key reaction involves Palladium catalyzed asymmetric conjugate addition of aryl boronic acid to 3-methyl cyclohexe-1-none to form quaternary carbon. Claisen rearrangement and subsequent aldol reaction furnished trans-decaline key intermediate, which assured a formal total synthesis of (−)-Triptophenolide and (+)-Triptolide. Graphical Abstract Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13659-016-0100-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Abietane diterpenes and miltirone series have shown important activities and for medical purposes in order to achieve the total synthesis of 1-oxomiltrone 1 and miltirone 4, a versatile intermediate 6 was found. The compound 6 could be used as a precursor A-B-C rings with different oxidative degrees in selected abietane diterpenes when synthesized through high yield Suzuki reaction and subsequent cyclization, and total synthesis of 1-oxomiltirone (1) has been achieved. Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available for this article at 10.1007/s13659-013-0034-7 and is accessible for authorized users.

Scopariusins A-C (1-3), three novel rearranged ent-halimanoids with a bicycle[5.4.0]undecane ring system, two new normal ent-halimanoids (4 and 5), and a new ent-clerodanoid (6) were isolated from Isodon scoparius. Moreover, a biomimetic transformation from the ent-clerodanoid to the normal and the rearranged ent-halimane diterpenoids was successfully accomplished, which not only validated the biogenetic hypothesis in this plant but also confirmed the absolute configurations of 1 and 5.

Catalytic asymmetric formal total synthesis of (+)-dichroanone and (+)-taiwaniaquinone H has been achieved. Key step involved construction of all-carbon quaternary carbon by palladium-catalyzed conjugate addition of arylboronic acid to 3-methyl cyclohexenone. Furthermore, a new approach to build [6-5-6] tricyclic backbone via formyl introduction and subsequent aldol-type condensation was also explored. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.