Genus Mortonia

Figure 3. Sesquiterpenes isolated from the genus Mortonia...

The maytolins are an interesting instance of new sesquiterpenes from the Celastraceae characterized by the presence of a tetrahydro-oxepine nucleus. It would seem that these new types of skeleton are only biosynthesized by species of the MORTONIA genus, which consists of just four species, endemic to Mexico and the southern Unites States. The chemical study of three of these four species led to the isolation and characterization of eight new sesquiterpenes [31-33](Figure3). 

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