Xanthones from Hypericum chinense and their cytotoxicity evaluation

A xanthonolignoid, 2-demethylkielcorin, and a phenylxanthone, chinexanthone A, were isolated from the stems of Hypericum chinense together with four known xanthonolignoids and seven known xanthones. Their structures were established by spectroscopic analysis. The optical properties and absolute stereochemistry of xanthonolignoids were also determined. The cytotoxicities of the isolated xanthone derivatives as well as additional 32 xanthones against human cancer cell lines were evaluated.