Chromatographic purification of the n-hexane and dichloromethane extracts of Nuxia oppositifolia aerial parts, growing in Saudi Arabia, resulted in the isolation and characterization of three new labdane-type diterpene acids, 2β-acetoxy-labda-7-en-15-oic acid (1), 2β-acetoxy-7-oxolabda-8-en-15-oic acid (2), 2β-acetoxy-6-oxolabda-7-en-15-oic acid (3), and one new seco-triterpene, 3,4-seco olean-12-en-3,30 dioic acid (4), together with 10 known lupane, oleanane and ursane-type triterpenes, as well as the common phytosterols, β-sitosterol and stigmasterol (5-16). Their structures have been assigned on the basis of different spectroscopic techniques including 1D and 2D NMR. Moreover, 13 of the isolated compounds were tested on the human cancer cell lines HeLa (cervical), A549 (lung) and MDA (breast), and most of the compounds showed potent cytotoxic activities in vitro.
Keywords: Nuxia oppositifolia; cytotoxicity; labdane-type diterpene; seco-triterpene; triterpenes.