Identification of new potent anticancer derivatives through simplifying the core structure and modification on their 14- hydroxyl group from oridonin.

The natural product oridonin has the potential to be a broad-spectrum antineoplastic agent. To develop oridonin analogues with high potency, a series of novel oridonin analogues were designed and synthesized by removing the multiple hydroxyl groups of parent compound. The representative analogues 14, 19, and 26 exhibited potent anticancer effects against K562, MDA-MB-231, SMMC-7721, and MCF-7 cells.