Bioactive terpenoids from Croton laui

Area of Science:

• Natural Product Chemistry
• Medicinal Chemistry
• Pharmacognosy

Background:

• The leaves of *Croton laui* are a source of bioactive natural products.
• Diterpenoids and triterpenes are classes of compounds with diverse biological activities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To isolate and characterize new chemical constituents from *Croton laui* leaves.
• To evaluate the biological activities of the isolated compounds, including anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic effects.

Main Methods:

• Isolation of compounds using chromatographic techniques.
• Structure elucidation through extensive spectroscopic methods (NMR, MS).
• Determination of absolute configurations via single-crystal X-ray diffraction and electronic circular dichroism (ECD).

Main Results:

• Two new highly-oxygenated neo-clerodane diterpenoids (1, 2) and a new lupane-type triterpene (6) were identified.
• Compounds 2 and 3 displayed potent inhibition of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nitric oxide (NO) production in RAW 264.7 macrophages (IC50 values of 1.2 and 1.6 μM).
• Compound 6 showed cytotoxic activity against Col205 and HepG2 cell lines (IC50 values of 12.9 and 17.7 μM).

Conclusions:

• The chemical investigation of *Croton laui* yielded novel diterpenoids and triterpenes.
• Compounds 2 and 3 possess significant anti-inflammatory potential by inhibiting nitric oxide production.
• Compound 6 exhibits promising cytotoxic activity against specific cancer cell lines, warranting further investigation.