Ficifolidione is a natural compound extracted from Eucaluptus ficifolia and its moderate insecticidal activity has been reported (Khambay, et al., 2003). We expected that ficifolidione should also exhibit cytotoxicity, because it has the phloroglucinol moiety which is often seen in the structures of cytotoxic compounds. To elucidate the structural factors of ficifolidione influencing the biological activities, ficifolidione as well as its 4-epimer and the other related derivatives were synthesized. Not only the clear insecticidal activity against the pests such as Spodoptera litura (larvae), Culex pipiens (larvae) and Musca domestica (adults) but also the repellent effect against the cutworms were not observed for the compounds synthesized, whereas the growth rate of the cutworms fed with ficifolidione was moderately suppressed. Ficifolidione, its 4-epimer and derivatives showed cytotoxicity against Sf9 cells, and the biochemical analyses suggested that apoptosis should be the important process influencing the cytotoxicity.

Biological activities of ficifolidione and its derivatives

248th National Meeting (2014)

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