BACKGROUND Artemisia annua L. has been used for many centuries in Chinese traditional medicine. Artemisinin, the active principle was first isolated and identified in the 1970s becoming the global back bone to the fight against malaria. Our research group previously developed an economic and ecological friendly process to obtain this compound. In the pursuit to also exploit the residue generate...

Compounds that inhibit aromatase activity are used for the treatment of breast cancer. A group of sesquiterpene lactones inhibit aromatase activity and also exert cytotoxicity through their reactive alpha-methylene-gamma-lactone group. To synthesize sesquiterpene lactones with greater specificity for aromatase inhibition and lower cytotoxicity, we chemically reduced the alpha-methylene-gamma-la...

A transformed root culture of Cichorium intybus L. (Asteraceae) was found to produce sesquiterpene lactones of guaiane and germacrane type. Lactucopicrin, 8-desoxylactucin and three sesquiterpene lactone glycosides: crepidiaside B, sonchuside A and ixerisoside D were isolated from the roots. The yield of 8-desoxylactucin reached 0.03 g l(-1) at the early stationary phase of the culture.

Continued investigation of the marine alga Laurencia claviformis has led to the isolation of pacifenol, a halogenated sesquiterpene as the major metabolite. The microbial transformation of pacifenol is reported. It was cultivated with a marine strain of Penicillium brevicompactum yielding a new compound. The structure was elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic data. The anti-microbial activit...

The X-ray structure of acantholide, a melampolide sesquiterpene lactone from Acanthospermum glabratum (DC.) Willd. was determined by the aid of direct methods. The compound was cytotoxic but displayed no antitumor activity. Evaluation of the X-ray and NMR data indicated that the same conformation exists in the solid state as in solution.

Isotenulin, C17H22O5, is a sesquiterpene lactone isolated from sneezeweed Helenium amarum. It crystallizes with two independent mol-ecules in the asymmetric unit. In each mol-ecule, two five-membered rings (cyclo-pentenone and lactone) are trans-fused to the central seven-membered ring. The five-membered rings each adopt envelope conformations. The seven-membered ring adopts a twist-chair confo...