Nortriterpene constituents from Schisandra sphenanthera

Nine new highly oxygenated nortriterpenoids, pre-schisanartanins E-J (1-6) and sphenadilactones D-F (7-9), together with 17 known ones (10-26), have been isolated from the acetone extract of the roots and stems of Schisandra sphenanthera. The structures of the new metabolites were characterized on the basis of extensive spectroscopic analyses including 1D and 2D NMR experiments. These compounds were all evaluated for their cytotoxicity against HL-60, SMMC-7721, A549, MCF-7, and SW480 tumor cell lines.