This book describes a unique class of secondary metabolites, the mono- and dimeric-naphthylisoquinoline alkaloids. They exclusively occur in lianas of the palaeotropical Ancistrocladaceae and Dioncophyllaceae plant families. Their unprecedented structures include stereogenic centers and rotationally hindered, and therefore stereogenic, axes. Extended recent investigations on six Ancistrocladus species from Asia, as reported in this contribution, shed light on their fascinating phytochemical productivity, with over 100 intriguing natural products. This high chemodiversity arises from a...

This volume describes several highly diverse subjects: Chapter 1 explores marine biodiscovery of the North-eastern Atlantic off the coast of Ireland as a model for best practice in research. The second chapter investigates Brazilian Chemical Ecology and examples of insect-plant communication studies that are mediated by natural products demonstrate the beautiful interconnectedness of species in a biome. Our third chapter comprises the advances in the science of the sesquiterpene quinone, perezone, which in 1852 was the first natural product isolated in crystalline form in the New World. The...

This book presents recent reports of total syntheses involving a photocatalytic reaction as a key step in the methodology. Modern photocatalysis has proven its generality for the development and functionalization of native functionalities. To date, the field has found broad applications in diverse research areas, including the total synthesis of natural products. Among the selected examples presented in this book, it highlights how the photocatalytic process proceeds in a highly chemo-, regio-, and stereoselective manner, thereby allowing the rapid access to structurally complex...

This volume begins with a short history of malaria and follows with a summary of its biology. It then traces the fascinating history of the discovery of quinine for malaria treatment, and then describes quinine’s biosynthesis, its mechanism of action, and its clinical use, concluding with a discussion of synthetic antimalarial agents based on quinine’s structure. It also covers the discovery of artemisinin and its development as the source of the most effective current antimalarial drug, including summaries of its synthesis and biosynthesis, its mechanism of action, and its clinical use...

The present volume is the third in a trilogy that documents naturally occurring organohalogen compounds, bringing the total number — from fewer than 25 in 1968 — to approximately 8,000 compounds to date. Nearly all of these natural products contain chlorine or bromine, with a few containing iodine and, fewer still, fluorine. Produced by ubiquitous marine (algae, sponges, corals, bryozoa, nudibranchs, fungi, bacteria) and terrestrial organisms (plants, fungi, bacteria, insects, higher animals) and universal abiotic processes (volcanos, forest fires, geothermal events), organohalogens...

This volume highlights some recent developments on plants used widely as botanical dietary supplements and herbal medicines, especially in terms of knowledge of the chemical types and diverse biological activities of their constituents, as well as laboratory approaches for their quality control and taxonomic identification. In the first chapter, the biologically active secondary metabolites are described of selected botanicals that have a wide current use in the United States, with recent information provided also on their in vitro and in vivo biological activities. The second chapter...