Bioactive Compounds from Taiwania cryptomerioides

Two new sesquiterpenes, 10α-hydroxyamorphan-4-en-3-one (1) and 4α-methylcadinane-4α-methyl-1α,2α,10α-triol (2), together with four known compounds, sesquiterpenes 10α-hydroxycadinan-4-en-3-one (3) and α-cadinol (4), diterpene ferruginol, and lignan helioxanthin, were isolated from the whole plant of Taiwania cryptomerioides under bioassay-guided fractionations. The structures of 1 and 2 were elucidated mainly by the NMR spectroscopic analyses. Bioactivities of the isolated compounds against brine shrimp, yellow fever mosquito larvae, and human tumor cells are reported; compound 4 was the most bioactive, showing selectivity for the human colon tumor cell line (HT-29).