Four new chalcones from Erythrina abyssinica.

Four new chalcones 1 - 4, named abyssinones A - D, were isolated from the stem bark of the plant Erythrina abyssinica and their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic analyses. The compounds 1, 3, and 4 were found to exhibit moderate cytotoxic activity against the human colorectal cancer cell line (Caco2) with IC (50) values of 13.3, 15.1, and 11.1 microM, respectively.