Four new triterpenoidal saponins from Ilex cornuta and their cytotoxic activities

Abstract

Four new triterpenoidal saponins (1–4), oleanolic acid 3β-O-α-l-arabinopyranosyl-(1→2)-β-d-glucuronopyranoside-6-O-butyl ester (1), oleanolic acid 3β-O-[α-l-arabinopyranosyl-(1→2)-β-d-glucuronopyranoside-6-O-butyl ester]-28-O-β-d-glucopyranoside (2), 19α-hydroxy oleanolic acid 3β-O-β-d-glucuronopyranoside-6-O-methyl ester (3), and 19α-hydroxy urs-12-en-28-oic acid 3β-O-α-l-arabinopyranosyl-(1→2)-β-d-glucuronopyranoside-6-O-methyl ester (4) were isolated from the roots of Ilex cornuta. Their structures were determined by means of extensive spectroscopic analyses (IR, ESIMS, HRESIMS, 1D and 2D NMR). Compounds 1–9 were tested for their cytotoxic activities by MTT assay, and 1, 3, 5 and 6 showed moderate cytotoxic activities against HeLa, SMMC-7721, and HL-60 human tumor cell lines.