Isolation and characterisation of cytotoxic compounds from Euphorbia clementei Boiss

A new phorbol-type diterpene ester, 4,20-dideoxy-4α-phorbol-12β-acetate-13α-isobutyrate, in addition to 11 known compounds were isolated from the latex and roots of Euphorbia clementei Boiss. Structure elucidation was performed by comprehensive 1D and 2D NMR analyses (1H and 13C NMR, COSY, ROESY, HSQC and HMBC experiments), mass spectrometry (HR-ESI-MS) and by comparison with literature data. The inhibitory activity of all isolated compounds was evaluated against promyelocytic leukemia HL60 and human erythromyeloblastoid leukemia K562 cell lines and seven of these compounds exhibited a weak cytotoxicity with IC50 values ranging from 40 to 97 μM.