Bioactive compounds from Stuhlmannia moavi from the Madagascar dry forest

Abstract Bioassay-directed fractionation of the leaf and root extracts of the antiproliferative Madagascar plant Stuhlmannia moavi afforded 6-acetyl-5,8-dihydroxy-2-methoxy-7-methyl-1,4-naphthoquinone (stuhlmoavin, 1 ) as the most active compound, with an IC 50 value of 8.1 μM against the A2780 human ovarian cancer cell line, as well as the known homoisoflavonoid bonducellin ( 2 ) and the stilbenoids 3,4,5′-trihydroxy-3′-methoxy- trans -stilbene ( 3 ), piceatannol ( 4 ), resveratrol ( 5 ), rhapontigenin ( 6 ), and isorhapontigenin ( 7 ). The structure elucidation of all compounds was based on NMR and mass spectroscopic data, and the structure of 1 was confirmed by a single crystal X-ray analysis. Compounds 2 − 5 showed weak A2780 activities, with IC 50 values of 10.6, 54.0, 41.0, and 74.0 μM, respectively. Compounds 1 − 3 also showed weak antimalarial activity against Plasmodium falciparum with IC 50 values of 23, 26, and 27 μM, respectively.