Selectively Cytotoxic Diterpenes from Euphorbia poisonii Majekodunmi O. Fatope, † Lu Zeng, Joseph E. Ohayaga, † Guoen Shi, and Jerry L. McLaughlin* Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy and Pharmacal Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, and Department of Chemistry, Bayero University, PMB 3011, Kano, Nigeria Received July 13, 1995 X Bioactivity-guided fractionation of the latex of Euphorbia poisonii Pax. (Euphorbiaceae) led to the isolation and characterization of a new tigliane diterpene, 12-deoxyphorbol 13-(9,10- methylene)undecanoate (3), together with five known diterpenes (1, 2, 4-6). When evaluated for cytotoxicity in a panel of six human solid tumor cell lines, the diterpene esters, 1-3, 5, and 6, were selectively cytotoxic for the human kidney carcinoma (A-498) cell line with potencies for 2 and 3 exceeding that of adriamycin by ten thousand times. Details of the isolations, structural analyses, and cytotoxic activities are described. There is a pervasive myth in northern Nigeria re- garding the toxic nature of Euphorbia poisonii Pax. (Euphorbiaceae), trivially called “Tinya” in Hausa. Homicide deaths in rural communities are often at- tributed to “Tinya” poisoning, the plant is not grazed by livestock, and preparations made from its latex are used as pesticides on millet farms. The latex of E. poisonii is extremely irritant to human skin, and it causes blindness when in contact with the eyes. The chemistry 1-7 and bioactivity profiles 8-12 of compounds previously isolated from E. poisonii have been studied extensively. Certain phorbol esters, ingenol esters, and daphnane derivatives isolated from Euphorbiaceous plants have been demonstrated to have antileukemic activities, 13 while lathyrane macrocyclics have been reported as cytotoxic against tumor cells in culture. 14,15 Some phorbol esters have also been reported lethal to brine shrimp, but phorbol itself showed no activity at 1000 µg/mL. 16 Our interest in E. poisonii derives from several sources, among which are its uses as garden pesticides in northern Nigeria and the paradoxical activities of its latex components as both procarcinogenic and antitumor agents. Fractionation of the latex of E. poisonii, directed by the brine shrimp lethality test (BST), 17,18 led to compounds 1-6 which were evaluated for cytotoxicity in a panel of six human solid tumor cell lines, 19-23 with adriamycin as a positive control. All of these, except tigliane (4), showed strong cytotoxic selectivity, with potencies approching ten thousand times that of adriamycin, for the human kidney carci- noma (A-498). In a previous paper, we described three bioactive diterpenes that were similarly isolated from the latex of E. poisonii but were less selectively cyto- toxic. 24 Compound 3 is a novel tigliane diterpene bearing an unusual 9,10-methyleneundecanoate ester at position 13. Results and Discussion Previous studies 1-7 have reported the phytochemical isolation of 12-deoxyphorbol esters and daphnane ortho esters from the latex of E. poisonii. This and a previous investigation 24 utilized the BST in an activity-directed isolation project. The 10% aqueous MeOH soluble fraction, of the latex extracts of this plant, exhibited a modest activity against the brine shrimp larvae (LC 50 114 µg/mL). It also showed a significant selectivity for certain cells when tested for cytotoxicity in a panel of human solid tumor cell lines in culture. Bioactivity- directed chromatographic fractionation of the bioactive fraction gave 12-deoxyphorbol 20-acetate 13-angelate (1), 1 12-deoxyphorbol 20-acetate 13-phenylacetate (2), 4 12-deoxyphorbol 13-(9,10-methylene)undecanoate (3), 20-hydroxy-12-deoxyphorbol angelate (4), 1 resiniferol 20-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenylacetate) 9,13,14-ortho- phenylacetate (5), 3,4,8 and 20-hydroxyresiniferol 9,13,- 14-orthophenylacetate (6). 4 The high-resolution mass spectroscopy (HRFABMS) of, hitherto unreported, 3 suggested a molecular formula of C 32 H 48 O 6. Compound 3 has a UV maximum at 235 nm, indicating the presence of an R,-unsaturated carbonyl group. Significant peaks in the CI-MS of 3 at m/z 511, 313, and 294 identified the parent diterpene skeleton as a 12-deoxyphorbol 9 with one acyl substitu- ent. The m/z peak at 313 arose by the loss of H 2 O and a fatty acid, with a mass unit of 198, from the molecular ion. The 13 C-NMR data of 3 (Table 1) displayed a tigliane skeleton, similar to 1, 2, and 4 (Chart 1), together with a 12-carbon substituent at C-13. The 13 C-NMR spectrum also showed two trisubstituted double bonds, one ketone and one ester carbon. The molecular formula of 3 suggested the presence of a total of nine unsaturation equivalents. Hence, the remaining five unsaturation equivalents should be due to cyclic forms. The structure of the subsituent at C-13 of 3 was determined by a careful analysis of the DEPT and 1 H- NMR signals of the 12-carbon ester moiety. The pres- ence of one methyl group, one ester carbonyl carbon, two methines, and eight methylene carbons, one of which resonated at δ 13.9, established an unusual cyclopropane undecanoate structure for the 12-carbon substituent. The exomethylene carbon was assigned to C-9′,10′ because the 1 H-NMR spectrum of 3 showed one tertiary methyl group at δ 0.89 (d, J ) 6.5 Hz) besides that assigned to C-18. The carbon resonaces of the cyclopropane ring (δ 23.3, 14.2, 13.9) and the tertiary methyl group (δ 18.1) are comparable to those reported for similar compounds (δ 27.6, 13.0, 12.4 for the cyclo- propane ring and δ 19.2 for the attached methyl group). 25,26 However, the stereochemistries of the cy- clopropane ring could not be unequivocally assigned. The NMR spectra of 5 and 6 showed the characteristic † Bayero University. X Abstract published in Advance ACS Abstracts, February 1, 1996. 1005 J. Med. Chem. 1996, 39, 1005-1008 0022-2623/96/1839-1005$12.00/0 © 1996 American Chemical Society