The chemical constituents of Penianthus longifolius Miers

Fourteen compounds were isolated from the roots, leaves and twigs of Penianthus longifolius Miers (Menispermaceae), including two previously unreported neo-clerodane diterpenoids, penianthin (1), its C-8 epimer (2). In addition, the previously reported O-methylmoschatoline (3), taraxerol (4), taraxerone (5), rubrosterone, (6), panuosterone (7), 22-epi-20-hydroxyecdysone (8), ergosterol peroxide (9), stigmast-5-ene-3,7-dione (10), stigmasterol (11), β-sitosterol (12), stigmasterol glucoside (13) and β-sitosterol glucoside (14) were isolated. The structures of the compounds were determined by means of NMR spectroscopic and mass spectrometric analysis. The absolute configurations of 1 and 2 were determined by circular dichroism analysis. Compounds 1 and 2 were screened against the NCI60 cancer cell panel but showed no significant activity at 10 μM.