A new biphenanthrene with cytotoxic activity from Liparis nervosa (Thunb.) Lindl

Abstract2,7,2′-Trihydroxy-3,4,4′7′-tetramethoxy-1,1′-biphenanthrene (1), a previously undescribed biphenanthrene, and five known phenanthrenes, i.e. 2,5-dihydroxy-4-methoxy-9,10-dihydroxyphenanthrene (2), 2,4-dihydroxy −7-methoxy-9,10-dihydroxyphenanthrene (3), 7-hydroxy-2-methoxy-phenanthrene-1,4-dione (4), 7-hydroxy-2-methoxy-9,10-dihydro­phenanthrene-1,4-dione (5), and 4,4′,7,7′-tetrahydroxy-2,2′-dimethoxy-9,9′,10,10′-tetrahydro−1,1′-biphenanthrene (6) were isolated from the whole plant (stems, leaves, roots and fruits) of Liparis nervosa (Thunb.) Lindl., which is a medicinal plant of the genus Liparis in the Orchidaceae family. The structures of isolates were identified using spectroscopic methods, including NMR and mass spectrometry. Additionally, the cytotoxic potency of all the isolates against human lung cancer A549 cell line was evaluated by an MTT assay. All the isolated compounds showed cytotoxic activities with IC50 values in the range of 10.20 ± 0.81 to 42.41 ± 2.34 μM. The obtained data highlight the importance of L. nervosa as a source of natural lead compounds for cancer therapy.Keywords: Liparis nervosa (Thunb.) Lindl.Orchidaceaebiphenanthrenespectroscopic methodcytotoxic potency Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.Correction StatementThis article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.Additional informationFundingThis research work was supported by the Qinglan Project of Jiangsu Province of China, the High-end Talents Supporting Project of Yangzhou University of China, and the National College Students' innovation and entrepreneurship training program of China (202211117028Z).