Plants (Mar 2022)

Structures, Occurrences and Biosynthesis of 11,12,13-Tri-<i>nor</i>-Sesquiterpenes, an Intriguing Class of Bioactive Metabolites

  • Víctor Coca-Ruíz,
  • Ivonne Suárez,
  • Josefina Aleu,
  • Isidro G. Collado

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11060769
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 6
p. 769

Abstract

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The compounds 11,12,13-tri-nor-sesquiterpenes are degraded sesquiterpenoids which have lost the C3 unit of isopropyl or isopropenyl at C-7 of the sesquiterpene skeleton. The irregular C-backbone originates from the oxidative removal of a C3 side chain from the C15 sesquiterpene, which arises from farnesyl diphosphate (FDP). The C12-framework is generated, generally, in all families of sesquiterpenes by oxidative cleavage of the C3 substituent, with the simultaneous introduction of a double bond. This article reviews the isolation, biosynthesis and biological activity of this special class of sesquiterpenes, the 11,12,13-tri-nor-sesquiterpenes.

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