Sesquiterpenoid derivatives from Gonospermum elegans and their cytotoxic activity for HL-60 human promyelocytic cells.

Four new compounds, a sesquiterpene, eleganodiol (1), and three sesquiterpene lactones, eleganolactone A (2), eleganolactone B (3), and elegain (4), were isolated from Gonospermum elegans along with 16 known compounds. The structures of 1, 2, and 4 were determined on the basis of MS and NMR studies of their acetate derivatives (1a, 2a, 4a). The structure of the acetate derivative (3a) of 3 was determined on the basis of spectroscopic data interpretation and by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Compounds 2a and 3a were used to study their biological activities on the HL-60 human promyelocytic leukemia cell line. These compounds induced morphological changes and internucleosomal DNA fragmentation characteristic of apoptotic cell death.