Abstract
Euphorbia species are rich in diterpenes. A solvent extraction of Euphorbia sanctae-catharinae, a species indigenous to the Southern Sinai of Egypt, afforded several premyrsinane diterpenoids (1⁻4) as well as previously reported metabolites (5⁻13) that included three flavonoids. Isolated compounds were chemically characterized by spectroscopic analysis. Identified compounds were bioassayed for anti-proliferative activity in vitro against colon (Caco-2) and lung (A549) tumor cell lines. Compound 9 exhibited robust anti-proliferative activity against A549 cells (IC(50) = 3.3 µM). Absolute configurations for 8 versus 9 were determined by experimental and TDDFT-calculated electronic circular dichorism (ECD) spectra.