A Chemical Toolbox to Unveil Synthetic Nature-Inspired Antifouling (NIAF) Compounds
Ana Rita Neves,
Sara Godinho,
Catarina Gonçalves,
Ana Sara Gomes,
Joana R. Almeida,
Madalena Pinto,
Emília Sousa,
Marta Correia-da-Silva
Affiliations
Ana Rita Neves
Laboratory of Organic and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Department of Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto, Rua Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal
Sara Godinho
Laboratory of Organic and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Department of Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto, Rua Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal
Catarina Gonçalves
CIIMAR—Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Terminal de Cruzeiros do Porto de Leixões, 4450-208 Matosinhos, Portugal
Ana Sara Gomes
CIIMAR—Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Terminal de Cruzeiros do Porto de Leixões, 4450-208 Matosinhos, Portugal
Joana R. Almeida
CIIMAR—Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Terminal de Cruzeiros do Porto de Leixões, 4450-208 Matosinhos, Portugal
Madalena Pinto
Laboratory of Organic and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Department of Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto, Rua Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal
Emília Sousa
Laboratory of Organic and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Department of Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto, Rua Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal
Marta Correia-da-Silva
Laboratory of Organic and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Department of Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto, Rua Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal
The current scenario of antifouling (AF) strategies to prevent the natural process of marine biofouling is based in the use of antifouling paints containing different active ingredients, believed to be harmful to the marine environment. Compounds called booster biocides are being used with copper as an alternative to the traditionally used tributyltin (TBT); however, some of them were recently found to accumulate in coastal waters at levels that are deleterious for marine organisms. More ecological alternatives were pursued, some of them based on the marine organism mechanisms’ production of specialized metabolites with AF activity. However, despite the investment in research on AF natural products and their synthetic analogues, many studies showed that natural AF alternatives do not perform as well as the traditional metal-based ones. In the search for AF agents with better performance and to understand which molecular motifs were responsible for the AF activity of natural compounds, synthetic analogues were produced and investigated for structure–AF activity relationship studies. This review is a comprehensive compilation of AF compounds synthesized in the last two decades with highlights on the data concerning their structure–activity relationship, providing a chemical toolbox for researchers to develop efficient nature-inspired AF agents.
