19-Nor- and 18,20-epoxy-cardenolides from the leaves of Calotropis gigantea.

Two new cardenolides (1 and 2) along with 12 known compounds were isolated from the dichloromethane extract of the leaves of Calotropis gigantea. The structural elucidation was accomplished by spectroscopic methods. Some of the isolates were evaluated for cytotoxic activity against KB, BC, and NCI-H187 cancer cell lines, and all cardenolides tested were found to possess strong inhibitory effects. The presence of a deoxysugar at C-3, a formyl group at C-10, and an alpha,beta-unsaturated gamma-lactone was crucial for cytotoxic activity.