Alkaloids and styryllactones from Goniothalamus cheliensis

Area of Science:

• Natural Products Chemistry
• Medicinal Chemistry
• Organic Chemistry

Background:

• Goniothalamus cheliensis is a plant species known for its diverse chemical constituents.
• Natural products often serve as a source of novel therapeutic agents.

Purpose of the Study:

• To isolate and characterize compounds from Goniothalamus cheliensis.
• To evaluate the cytotoxic potential of isolated compounds against human colorectal cancer cells.

Main Methods:

• Extraction and isolation of compounds from plant material.
• Structure elucidation using spectroscopic techniques (NMR, MS).
• Determination of absolute configurations via single crystal X-ray diffraction and Electronic Circular Dichroism (ECD) spectroscopy.
• Cytotoxicity assays using human colorectal cancer cells (HCT-116).

Main Results:

• Eight new compounds (four alkaloids, five styryllactones) and 36 known compounds were identified.
• Absolute configurations of key styryllactones were confirmed by X-ray crystallography.
• Griffithazanone A exhibited potent cytotoxicity against HCT-116 cells with an IC50 value of 2.39 μM.

Conclusions:

• Goniothalamus cheliensis is a rich source of structurally diverse natural products.
• Griffithazanone A shows promise as a potential lead compound for colorectal cancer therapy.