Bioassay-guided fractionation of the cytotoxic leaf and flower extract of
Casearia nigrescens led to the isolation of fournew clerodane diterpenoids, designated caseanigrescens A-D (
1-
4). These compounds were subject to hydrolysis todialdehydes when stored in CDCl
3. The structures of compounds
1-
4 were determined using 1D and 2D NMRspectroscopy. All four compounds showed moderate cytotoxicity to the A2780 human ovarian cancer cell line, with anIC
50 range of 0.83-1.4
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M.