STRUCTURAL MODIFICATION OF LIGNAN COMPOUNDS ISOLATED FROM NECTANDRA SPECIES (LAURACEAE)
Author
Macías-Villamizar, Víctor
Cuca-Suárez, Luís
Abstract
In the genus Nectandra, the presence of certain types of secondary metabolites has been determined, including sesquiterpenes, phytosterols, polyalcohols, arylpropionic acid derivatives, flavonols, arylpropanoids, furofuran lignans, dihydrobenzofuran neolignans [1], and certain norlignans [2], alkaloids [3], tannins [4], diterpenes [5], and components of essential oils [6]. However, the chemotaxonomic characteristics are determined by the presence of lignan-type compounds [7]. The ultimate goal of structural modification of natural products is to obtain new drugs [8]. In that sense, there is a growing interest in lignans and their synthetic derivatives due to applications in cancer chemotherapy and various other pharmacological effects [9]. This work corresponds to the first report of this type of structural modification of lignan compounds (7,7’-epoxylignans and diaryldimethylbutane lignans) isolated from Nectandra species. Therefore, this work can be used as a starting point for structure-activity relationship studies.