Alkaloids from Gelsemium elegans

Three new alkaloids, gelsebanine (1), 14α-hydroxyelegansamine (2), and 14α-hydroxygelsamydine (3), and a new extraction artifact , gelsebamine (4), together with 12 known alkaloids, were isolated from the stems and leaves of Gelsemium elegans. The structures of 1−4 were determined by spectroscopic methods, especially 2D NMR techniques. Compounds 1−4 were evaluated for cytotoxic activity against four tumor cell lines, and gelsebamine (4) selectively inhibited the A-549 human lung adenocarcinoma cell line