Cytotoxic hydroxyanthracenones from fruits of Karwinskia parvifolia.

Peroxisomicines A1 (1) and A2 (2) are cytotoxic hydroxyanthracenones isolated from the fruits of Karwinskia parvifolia. Peroxisomicine A1 exhibits selective cytotoxicity against several tumor cell lines. In the present investigation three minor constituents were obtained from the same fruit extracts: peroxisomicine A3 (3) and isoperoxisomicines A1 (4) and A2 (5). Compounds 3 and 5 are novel and their structures were determined by spectroscopic methods and molecular modeling. Compounds 1-5 were significantly cytotoxic against hepatoma cell lines.