Disclosed are englerins and derivatives (I) thereof useful in the treatment of a number of cancers, particularly renal cancer, as well as pharmaceutical compositions and method of treating a patient with the use of these derivatives. The englerins, for example Englerin A and Englerin B, can be isolated from the plant Phyllanthus engleri or produced by synthetic methods. An example of the englerin derivative is 2′-chloroenglerin A, which has the structure (II), wherein double bond ‘a’ is E, Z, or a mixture of E and Z.