Synthesis and antitumour activity of novel diterpenequinone salvicine and the analogs

A novel diterpenequinone named salvicine (4), structurally modified derivat ive of a natural product, and a series of the novel analogs have been prepa red. Most of the analogs were found to be potently active against tumor cel l lines in vitro. Further study on 4 in vivo demonstrated that it possessed a significant antineoplastic activity against murine S-180 Sarcoma and Lew is lung cancer, and human lung adenocarcinoma xenografts A-549 and LAX-83. The preclinical studies of 4 are now under way. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science L td. All rights reserved.