Asitrilobins A and B: cytotoxic mono-THF annonaceous acetogenins from the seeds of Asimina triloba.

The seeds of Asimina triloba have yielded two novel cytotoxic mono-tetrahydrofuran (THF) Annonaceous acetogenins, asitrilobins A (1) and B (2). In addition, annonacin, asimin and asiminacin, which are known, and annomontacin and xylomaticin, which are known but are new in this species, were obtained. Compounds 1 and 2 have a relative stereochemical relationship of erythro/cis/threo across the mono-THF ring with its two flanking hydroxyls and they, thus, represent a new type of acetogenin. Their structures were established on the basis of chemical and spectral evidence. 1 and 2 showed potent bioactivities in the brine shrimp lethality test (BST) and among six human solid tumor cell lines with notable selectivity for the pancreatic cell line (MIA PaCa-2) at ten to one-hundred times the potency of adriamycin.