Peroxides terpenoid

Artemisinin is used here as an example of a plant sesquiterpenoid with both traditional value as well as with medicinal and social value in the twenty-first century. Research on artemisinin has also established new benchmarks for biochemical engineering and functional genomics of plant terpenoids. Artemisinin is a functionalized sesquiterpene with a unique peroxide linkage from the sweet wormwood Artemisia annua). Chinese herbalists have used it since ancient times, and it is now used for its unique efficacy to treat multidrug-resistant strains of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Its medicinal importance has prompted studies into its biosynthesis and its biochemical engineering so that cost-effective methods for producing it in large scale and in consistent quality may be realized. 

Terpenoids can be classified also into hydrocarbons, alcohols, carbonyl compounds, phenols, acids, esters, oxides, and peroxides. 

Besides artemisinin more than 150 natural peroxides are known in nature. The presence of the typical peroxide functions is not related to one natural product group and occurs as cychc and acyclic peroxides in terpenoids, polyketides, phenolics and also alkaloids. The most stable are cychc peroxides, even under harsh conditions and artemisinin is a nice example of this. Artemisinin can be boiled or treated with sodiiun borohydride without degradation of the peroxide function. In contrast, acychc peroxides are rather unstable, form hydrogen peroxides and are easily broken by metals or bases. 

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