Artanomadimers A–F: six new dimeric guaianolides from Artemisia anomala

A novel dimeric guaianolide with an unprecedented skeleton, named artanomadimer A (1), and five new analogues, artanomadimers B–F (2–6), were isolated from the aerial parts of Artemisia anomala. Their structures and stereochemistry were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic methods, and the absolute stereochemistry of compound 4 was confirmed by X-ray crystallographic analysis. Artanomadimer A (1) is probably formed through a Diels–Alder reaction with the new carbon–carbon bond formation of C-11/C-2′ and C-13/C-5′ based on its structure. A cytotoxic evaluation showed that compounds 1 and 6 exhibited significant inhibitory effects against the cell growth of BGC-823 tumor cell lines with IC50 values of 2.71 and 6.25 μM, respectively.