Chem. Pharm. Bull., 54(10),1465-1468, October 2006

Notes

Studies on the Constituents of the Leaves of Baccharis dracunculifolia (Asteraceae) and their Cytotoxic Activity

Mamoru FUKUDA,^* Emika OHKOSHI, Mitsuko MAKINO, and Yasuo FUJIMOTO

College of Pharmacy, Nihon University; 7-7-1 Narashinodai, Funabashi, Chiba 274-8555, Japan. * To whom correspondence should be addressed. e-mail: mamoru.fukuda@mb.kyorin-pharm.co.jp

A new sesquiterpene, named baccharisketone (1), and a new monoterpene, p-methoxythymol acetate (2), were isolated from the leaves of Baccharis dracunculifolia along with seventeen known compounds (3-19). The structures of the new compounds were determined by spectroscopic means. The growth inhibitory activity of the isolated compounds against leukemia cells (L 1210) was tested and three terpene phenols (4, 6, 17) and five sesquiterpene alcohols (8, 10, 11, 13, 16) were found to exhibit strong cytotoxic activity.

Key words Baccharis dracunculifolia; leukemia cell; Asteraceae; monoterpenoid; sesquiterpenoid; cytotoxic activity