Synthesis and biological evaluation of antitumor-active arglabin derivatives

Arglabin derivatives varied at the endo- or exo-cyclic double bond were synthesized and studied in a colorimetric sulforhodamine B assay for their cytotoxicity. Variations on the endocyclic double bond led to compounds of reduced cytotoxicity whereas derivatives from the reaction of the α-methylene-γ-butyrolactone moiety led to compounds of similar or only slightly reduced cytotoxicity but different, cell line-dependent selectivity. In addition, arglabin is an excellent starting material for the synthesis of the guaianolide arborescin.