Terpenoids in Relation to the Concept of Bioisosterism

By and large, terpenoids and terpenoid derivatives would not seem constitutionally well suited for studies related to the concept of bioisosterism [1247, 

It was argued [1256] that provided the tropolones did not act simply as metal ion scavangers (as in the case, for example, with ethylene diamine tetra-cetic acid [1258]), since chelation with metal ions undoubtedly underlies the antifungal properties [1259, 1260] of the thujaplicins and their congeners, then they should be able to compete with the catecholamines for the active enzymic site. The results showed that some of the tropolones, including the two thujaplicins, did in fact act in this way. Presumably the inhibition [1261] of dopamine jS-hydroxylase by y-thujaplicin occurs by a similar mechanism. 

---