Quinone-methide triterpenes

NATURAL DITERPENE AND TRITERPENE QUINONE METHIDES STRUCTURES, SYNTHESIS, AND BIOLOGICAL POTENTIALS... 

Triterpene dimers and trimers discussed in the present review probed to be inactive as cytotoxic [91,8]. According to Gonzalez et al., this fact is due that the size of this type of compound plays an important role in their activity and that they could be stored in the plant as polymers, which could release biologicaly active units, like the quinone methides. 

S. krausii is used in Mozambican traditional medicine against bilharziasis and dysentery. However, Celastraceae plants were also reported to possess antimalarial activity [35]. Figueiredo et al. isolated three nor-triterpene quinone methides [77], compounds (60), (61) and (62). The in vitro activity (expressed as IC50 values) of the isolated quinone methides in comparison to the reference compound (chloroquine) is shown in Table 6. The isolated compounds, together with the known celastroloids celastrol (52), pristimerin (53) and isoiguesterol (101), Fig. 

Dominguez XA, Franco R, Cano G, Garcia S et al. 1979 Mexican medicinal plants. Part 33. Triterpene quinone-methides from Schaeferia roots. Phytochemistry 18 898 - 899... 

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