William N. Setzer1,4, Todd, J. Green1, Kylen W. Whitaker1, Debra M. Moriarity2, Cherie A. Yancey2, Robert O. Lawton2, and Robert B. Bates3
1 Department of Chemistry, The University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, Alabama 35899, U.S.A.
2 Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, Alabama 35899, U.S.A.
3 Department of Chemistry, The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, U.S.A.
4 Address for correspondence
Received: December 21,1994; Accepted: January 7,1995
Abstract
The crude ethanol extract from the leaves of Dendropanax arboreus (Araliaceae) from Monteverde, Costa Rica, exhibits cytotoxic activity against Hep-G2, A-431, H-411E, and L-1210 tumor cell lines, but is not toxic against normal hepatocytes. The active component has been isolated by activitydirected separation and identified by 1H- and 13C-NMR spectroscopy as the acetylenic compound cis-1,9,16-heptadecatriene-4,6-diyne-3,8-diol.