Cytotoxic diterpenoids from Salvia yunnanensis.

Forty-six abietane type diterpenoids possessing nine different fused ring systems were characterized from the roots of Salvia yunnanensis , six of which (salyunnanins A–F, 1 – 6 ) had different nor -abietane, homo -abietane, seco -abietane, and normal abietane architectures. Their structures were elucidated by comprehensive NMR and MS spectroscopic analyses. The inhibitory activities of these isolates against six human tumor lines were tested in vitro . Several of the compounds exhibited substantial cytotoxicity with IC 50 values of 0.86–10.1 μM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]