Antiproliferative triterpene saponins from Trevesia palmata

During the course of a study of plants of the family Araliaceae, antiprolif erative activity was demonstrated by the crude saponin fraction of Trevesia palmata, After chromatographic purification, six near bisdesmosidic saponi ns (1-6), along with two known triterpenoid saponins, (7 and 8), were isola ted. The structures of 1-6 were determined by H-1-H-1 correlation spectrosc opy (COSY-DQF, 1D, TOCSY, 2D HOHAHA, 1D ROESY) and H-1-C-13 (HSQC, HMBC) sp ectroscopy. The antiproliferative activity of compounds 1-8 and of their pr osapogenins (2a-7a) prepared by alkaline hydrolysis, was evaluated using th ree continuous culture cell lines.