Prenylated chalcones from Desmodium renifolium

Three new prenylated chalcones, renifolins A-C (1-3), together with seven known ones (4-10), were isolated from whole Desmodium renifolium plants. All of their structures were determined by spectroscopic methods including 1D and 2D NMR. Compounds 1 and 2 are the first naturally occurring chalcones possessing a 4-methylfuran-2(5H)-one unit. All of the isolates were evaluated for cytotoxicity using five tumor cell lines. Compounds 3-8, and 10 exhibited moderate cytotoxicity against certain cell lines with IC50 values from 4.2 to 8.8 mu M. (C) 2014 Phytochemical Society of Europe. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.