Xymarginatin: a new acetogenin inhibitor of mitochondrial electron transport from Xylopia emarginata Mart., Annonaceae

A new Annonaceous acetogenin, xymarginatin (1), was isolated from the twigs of Xyliopia emarginata Mart. (Annonaceae) by bioactivity-directed fractionation using lethality to brine shrimp. The compound 1 represents a linear C-35 Annonaceous acetogenin, lacking either tetrahydrofuran (THF) or epoxide rings, bearing a keto group at C-10, and possessing two cis-double bonds separated by two methylenes units. The structure of 1 was elucidated by 1H and 13C-NMR, COSY, HMBC, HMQC and HRMS. The ability to inhibit the mitochondrial respiratory chain of Xymarginatin (1) was tested in a rat liver mitochondrial oxygen uptake assay, with IC50 value of 1720 nM; Rotenone as a positive control gave IC50 34.8 nM. The toxicity of compound 1 against Artemia salina Leach gave LC50 of 127 μg/mL.