Biphenanthrene from Stanhopea lietzei (Orchidaceae) and its chemophenetic significance within neotropical species of the Cymbidieae tribe

Orchidaceae are one of the largest families of flowering plants. In this work, the first phytochemical study of the non-flowering parts of the South American species Stanhopea lietzei (Regel) Schltr. is reported. It led to the isolation of nine compounds, including the rare dimeric compound 2,2′,7,7′-tetramethoxy-4,4′,6,6′-tetrahydroxy-(1,1′)-biphenanthrene (1). This compound was tested for the first time against HeLa human cancer cells, with IC50 16.9 ± 0.9 μg/mL. Biological assays against neotropical parasites, virus and other human cancer cell lines are also reported. Finally, the relevance of biphenanthrenes, flavonoids, and C-glycosylated phenolic compounds for chemophenetics relationships within neotropical species of the Cymbidieae tribe and Oncidiinae, Maxillariinae, Cyrtopodiinae and Stanhopeinae subtribes was also discussed.