Guided isolation of daphnane-type diterpenes from Daphne genkwa by molecular network strategies

Abstract

A molecular networking-guided study on the Daphne genkwa Sieb. et Zucc led to the isolation of twelve daphnane-type diterpenoids including four undescribed compounds, yuanhuakines A-D. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic analyses, ECD calculations, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. All isolates were evaluated for their inhibitory activity against the A549, Hep3B, and MCF-7 cell lines. The majority of compounds inhibited A549 cells with IC₅₀ values ranging from 7.77 to 20.56 μM, and their structure-activity relationship is preliminarily discussed. Five of these compounds were selected for further experiments, and they appear to inhibit A549 cell lines by inducing apoptosis.

Keywords: Cytotoxic activity; Daphnane-type diterpenoids; Daphne genkwa; Molecular networking; Thymelaeaceae.