Artemisians A-D, Diseco-guaianolide Involved Heterodimeric [4+2] Adducts from Artemisia argyi

Artemisians A-D (1-4), the first examples of [4 + 2] Diels-Alder type adducts presumably biosynthesized from a rare 1, 10-4, 5-diseco-guaianolide and a guaianolide diene, along with their possible precursor 5, were isolated from the traditional Chinese medicine Artemisia argyi. The structures of 1-4 were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic analyses and calculated electronic circular dichroism. Compound 2, with an IC50 value of 3.21 mu M, exhibited significant antiproliferative activity via apoptosis induction and G2/M arrest in MDA-MB-468 cells.