Terphenyls from Lichens

Compounds will be discussed in Sections based on structural analogy, generally related to their biosynthetic ori n. Thus, simple / -terphenyls with a tricyclic C-18 basic skeleton, including their acyclic d-alkyl or O-acyl derivatives are treated in Section 2, normally in order of increasing number of oxygenated functions. Those showing a policyclic C-18 skeleton are discussed in Section 3, while Section 4 includes those possessing an alkylated skeleton (C-19 or more). The main biosynthetic pathways and selected synthetic methods are summarised in Sections 5 and 6, respectively. For the sake of completeness, terphenyls from lichens are shortly reported in Section 2.6. 

To the best of our knowledge, the few chemical studies reporting isolation and characterization of terphenyls from natural sources not belonging to the Kingdom of Fungi are confined to lichens, and are shortly reported here. 

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