Isolation of the New Antiplasmodial Butanolide, Malleastrumolide A, from Malleastrum sp. (Meliaceae) from Madagascar

An extract of a Malleastrum sp. (Meliaceae) collected in Madagascar by the Madagascar International Cooperative Biodiversity Group was found to have antimalarial activity, with an IC50 value between 2.5 and 5 μg/mL. After purification by liquid-liquid partition, chromatography on a Diaion open column, C-18 SPE and C-18 reverse phase HPLC, the new butanolide malleastrumolide A was isolated. The structure of malleastrumolide A was determined by mass spectrometry, NMR and ECD. The double bond position was determined by cross-metathesis and mass spectrometry. The compound has antiproliferative activity against the A2780 ovarian cancer cell line with an IC50 value of 17.4 μM and antiplasmodial activity against the drug-resistant Dd2 strain of Plasmodium falciparum with an IC50 value of 2.74 μM. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.