Progress in The Chemistry of Organic Natural Products (repost)

This volume comprises three reviews. The first describes isolation, structure determination, syntheses, and biochemistry of the low molecular weight compounds of the secretion of exocrine glands of termies with emphasis to pheromones and defensive compounds. The second review describes recent studies on isolation and structure elucidation of bioactive compounds involved in the life cycle and determination of the molecular mechanisms of the developmental events observed in higher plants. The third contribution reports on the current body of knowledge of African propolis, with a particular emphasis on its chemistry and biological activity.

The book summarizes important aspects of cheminformatics that are relevant for natural product research. It highlights cheminformatics tools that help to match natural products with their respective biological targets or off-targets, and discusses the potential and limitations of this approach.

The first review describes examples of very promising compounds discovered from plants acquired from Africa, Southeast Asia, the Americas, and the Caribbean region with potential anticancer activity. These include plant secondary metabolites of the diphyllin lignan, pentabenzofuran, triterpenoid, and tropane alkaloid types.

The first contribution reviews the occurrence of xanthine alkaloids in the plant kingdom and the elucidation of the caffeine biosynthesis pathway, providing details of the N-methyltransferases, belonging to the motif B' methyltransferase family which catalyze three steps in the four step pathway leading from xanthosine to caffeine.

The book presents the current state of the art on phytocannnabinoid chemistry and pharmacology and will be of much use to those wishing to understand the current landscape of the exciting and intriguing phytocannabinoid science.