Chicory (Cichorium intybus) sesquiterpene lactones were recently shown to be derived from a common sesquiterpene intermediate, (+)-germacrene A. Germacrene A is of interest because of its key role in sesquiterpene lactone biosynthesis and because it is an enzyme-bound intermediate in the biosynthesis of a number of phytoalexins. Using polymerase chain reaction with degenerate primers, we have i...

Pseudotutin previously isolated from Coriaria japonica A. GRAY was revealed to be a molecular compound consisting of equimolar tutin (2) and a new related sesquiterpene lactone, corianin (3). Corianin was also isolated together with coriamyrtin (1), tutin (2) and coriatin (4), from Loranthus parasiticus MERR., a parasitic plant that grows on the twigs of Coriaria sinica MAXIM. The structure of ...

The chromatographic separation of a methylene chloride extract of Artemisia rubripes led to the isolation of a new sesquiterpene lactone (3), together with four known compounds, a coumarin (2) and three terpenes (1, 4, and 5). Their structures were characterized to be 1beta,6alpha-dihydroxy-4(15)-eudesmene (1), scopoletin (2), 1alpha,4beta-dihydroxy-8alpha-acetoxy-guaia-2,10(14), 11(13)-triene-...

Following the characterization of hypoglycemic, gastric emptying inhibitory, and gastroprotective principles and the structure elucidation of calendasaponins A, B, C, and D, two new ionone glucosides (officinosides A and B), and two sesquiterpene oligoglycosides (officinosides C and D), were isolated from the flowers of Egyptian Calendula officinalis. The structures of the officinosides were el...

Five new derivatives (2-6) were semi-synthesized using compound 1, a dihydro-β-agarofuran sesquiterpene with C-2 ketone obtained from Parnassia wightiana, as the starting material by acylation, oxidation, reduction, esterification, and amination, respectively. Structures of 2-6 were confirmed by 1D- and 2D-NMR and HR-ESI-MS spectra. In addition, antifeedant activities of these compounds (1-6) w...

Main aim is to evaluate the genotoxic potentials of three classes of natural products, a sesquiterpene lactone (cynaropicrin), a saponin (stigmast-7en-3 -ol-glucopyranoside) and a steroid (stigmasterol), at low doses, using the Homozygotization Index test (HI). This short-term test, deals with the determination of alterations in mitotic crossing-over frequencies eventually involving heterozygou...

Artemisinin is a natural sesquiterpene lactone obtained from the Artemisia annua herb. It is widely used for the treatment of malaria. In this article, we have reviewed the role of artemisinin in controlling malaria, spread of resistance to artemisinin and the different methods used for its large scale production. The highest amount of artemisinin gene expression in tobacco leaf chloroplast lea...

Two new brominated selinane sesquiterpenes, 1-bromoselin-4(14),11-diene (1) and 9-bromoselin-4(14),11-diene (2), one known cadinane sesquiterpene, cadalene (3), and four known selinane sesquiterpenes, alpha-selinene (4), beta-selinene (5), beta-dictyopterol (6), and cyperusol C (7), were isolated from a sample of marine brown alga Dictyopteris divaricata collected off the coast of Yantai (China...

The effect of psilostachyin, a natural sesquiterpene lactone, on the growth and viability of cultured epimastigotes of Trypanosoma cruzi (Tulahuen) is reported. The antiproliferative effect was evaluated by counting the parasites in a Neubauer chamber and measuring their viability by using the dye exclusion technique. The effect on parasite growth was irreversible at concentrations higher than ...

Photooxygenation of (β-keto)-2-substituted furans leads, in a one pot operation, to functionalized 3(2H)-furanones with good to excellent yields. This methodology was applied as a key-step to the concise and biomimetic synthesis of the sesquiterpene merrekentrone C. The precursor to merrekentrone C, keto difuran, was synthesized using a cross coupling of α-iodo-3-acetylfuran with an alkenyl fur...