A homo-isoflavonoid and a cytotoxic saponin from Dracaena draco

Abstract

Two new compounds, dracol (=(3R)-2,3-dihydro-3,5-dihydroxy-7-methoxy-3-[(4-methoxyphenyl)methyl]-8-methyl-4H-[1]benzopyran-4-one; 1) and icodeside (= (1 beta,3 beta,23S,24S)-3,23-dihydroxy-1-{[2-O(2,3,4-tri-O-acetyl-a-L-rhamnopyranosyl)-a-L-arabinopyranosyl]oxy}spirosta-5,25(27)-dien-24-yl a-L-arabinopyranoside; 2), were isolated from the EtOH extract of the leaves of Dracaena draco, together with 17 known constituents. The structures of 1 and 2 were elucidated by in-depth spectroscopic analysis, and those of the known compounds were identified by comparison of their NMR and MS data with those reported in the literature. Icodeside (2) showed moderate cytotoxicity against human HL-60 and A-431 cells (Table 3).