Symmetric dimers of ent-kaurane diterpenoids with cytotoxic activity from Croton tonkinensis.

Breast cancer is the most common malignant tumor in women these days accounting for approximately 24% of all cancer. During our screening program searching for cytotoxic materials from natural products, two new symmetric dimers of ent-kaurane diterpenoid, crotonkinensins C (1) and D (2), with connectivity at C-17 were isolated from the leaves of the Vietnamese endemic medicinal plant Croton tonkinensis. Their structures were determined on the basis of physicochemical and spectroscopic data. Compound 2 showed a potent cytotoxic activity against MCF-7, tamoxifen-resistant MCF-7 (MCF-7/TAMR), adriamycin-resistant MCF-7 (MCF-7/ADR), and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell lines.