Cytotoxicity of phenylpropanoid esters from the stems of Hibiscus taiwanensis.

The separation of an extract prepared from the stems of the previously uninvestigated Hibiscus taiwanensis led to the isolation of three new phenylpropanoid esters, (7S,8S)-demethylcarolignan E (1), hibiscuwanin A (2), hibiscuwanin B (3), in addition to eight known ones. The structures of these compounds were elucidated by spectroscopic and chemical transformation studies. In cytotoxicity evaluation of the isolates, 9,9'-O-feruloyl-(-)-secoisolaricinresinol (8) showed strong cytotoxic activity against human lung carcinoma and breast carcinoma cell lines in an in vitro cytotoxicity assay with EC(50) values of 1.8 and 3.9 microg/mL, respectively.