Cytotoxic sesquiterpene lactones from Inula britannica

Cytotoxicity-guided fractionation of the flowers of Inula britannica led to the isolation of four sesquiterpene lactones, 4 alpha, 6 alpha-dihydroxyeudesman-8 beta, 12-olide (1), ergolide (2), 8-epi-helenalin (3), and bigelovin (4). Compound 1 was isolated as a new natural product. These compounds showed cytotoxicity against human tumor cell lines.