Current Organic Chemistry - Volume 10, Issue 8, 2006

The 2006 Natural Product Chemistry issue of Current Organic Chemistry contains four contributions covering different themes. One of these involves methodology, in which Potterat and Hamburger look at approaches to the localization and characterization of bioactivity. New technologies and concepts have been introduced over the last few years and these are the subject of this article. Sensitive and rapid methods are re Read More

Various natural products, such as physostigmine, have long been recognized as inhibitors of the enzyme acetylcholinesterase. Since the recent approval of galanthamine for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease by the blockage of acetylcholine degradation, attempts to find other inhibitors of the enzyme have multiplied, leading to promising candidates such as huperzine A. In this review, a listing is presented of natural product Read More

The chemical constituents produced by Chinese higher fungi, including thirty two basidiomycete and six ascomycete species, have been investigated in the past decades. A variety of new secondary metabolites associated with diverse structural types of terpenoids, steroids, sphingolipids, perylenequinones, p-terphenyls, pyranones, and heterocyclic compounds, which exhibited antitumor, anti-inflammatory, c Read More

The present review deals with recently reported novel natural flavones and flavonols (mid-1999 to early 2004), along with various biological and pharmacological activities as exhibited by these important groups of flavonoids. The present resumé lists 252 new naturally occurring flavones and flavonols reported during the period. Natural distribution by plant family of the flavonoids is considered; a variety of plant species belong Read More

Effective methods for localization and characterization of bioactivity are a cornerstone for natural product based drug discovery efforts. Over the last decade, a wealth of new technologies and conceptual approaches for bioactivity screening have emerged. These developments are reviewed under the perspective of their applicability in the field of natural products discovery. The methods discussed here include bioautography, Read More