Quassinoids from the stems of Picrasma quassioides and their cytotoxic and NO production-inhibitory activities.

Three new C20 quassinoids nigakilactone P (1), picraqualide F (2), nigakilactone Q (3), along with eight known quassinoids (4-11), were isolated from the 95% EtOH extract of the stems of Picrasma quassioides. The structures of the new compounds were elucidated by means of HRESIMS and different NMR techniques. Assignments of relative and absolute configurations for these compounds were achieved on the basis of ROESY spectra and quantum chemical ECD calculation. In vitro activity assays, none of the compounds showed cytotoxic (IC50>50 μM) and NO production-inhibitory activities (IC50>30 μM), and the structure-activity relationships of quassinoids were summarized. In addition, the chemotaxonomic significance of the isolated compounds was also discussed.