Five compounds were isolated from the methanolic extract of Caesalpinia sinensis branches and leaves including a new cassane-type butenolide norditerpenoids compound (1) and a new type of biphenyls compound (2); the compounds were identified as Norcaesalpin-one (1), 4'-hexyl 3-methyl 6methoxy-[1,1'-biphenyl]-3,4'-dicarboxylate (2), rhapontigenin (3), 3-deoxysappanchalcone (4), isoliquiritigenin (5). Compounds 1-5 were first isolated from C. sinensis. Their structures were elucidaded on the basis of MS, IR, NMR spectroscopic, X-ray diffraction data analyses. The NGFinduced PC12 differentiation assay was performed on compound 1, and the results showed that compound 1 had a promotive effect on PC12 cell differentiation, with a differentiation rate of 12.32%. In addition, In addition, compounds 1-5 were evaluated for their cytotoxic activities against five human cancer cell lines (including A-549, BGC-823, MDA-MB-231, HepG2), and the results showed that compounds 3-5 showed inhibitory activity against to these cancer cell lines, with IC 50 values ranging from 22.96 to 74.92 μmol/L, with compound 4 showing the best activity against human malignant melanoma cells A375 with an IC 50 value of 22.96 μmol/L.

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