Novel bioactive phenanthrene derivatives from Domohinea perrieri

Four novel phenanthrene derivatives were isolated from Domohinea perrieri Leandri (Euphorbiaceae) collected in Madagascar, and have been structurally assigned as 3,6-dihydroxy-1,7-dimethyl-9-methoxyphenanthrene (1), 3,6-dihydroxy-1-hydroxymethyl-9-methoxy-7-methylphenanthrene (2), 3,6-dihydroxy-7-hydroxymethyl-9-methoxy-1-methylphenanthrene (3), and 3,6-dihydroxy-1,7-dihydroxymethyl-9-methoxyphenanthrene (4), respectively. A further constituent was the navel hexahydrophenanthrene derivative, domohinone (5), whose structure was confirmed by single-crystal X-ray crystallography. Compounds 1-5 were evaluated for cytotoxic and bleomycin-mediated DNA strand-scission activities. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.