Cassane diterpenes with oxygen bridge from the seeds of Caesalpinia sappan

Insecticidal Activities and GC-MS Analysis of the Selected Family Members of Meliaceae Used Traditionally as Insecticides

The environmental and health risks associated with synthetic pesticides have increased the demand for botanical insecticides as safer and biodegradable alternatives to control insect pests in agriculture. Hence in this study, five Meliaceae species were evaluated for their insecticidal activities against the Spodoptera frugiperda and the Plutella xylostella larvae, as well as their chemical constituents. Repellence, feeding deterrence, and topical application bioassays were employed to evaluate their insecticidal activities. GC-MS analysis was performed to identify chemical compounds present in each plant. The repellence bioassay indicated that Melia azedarach extracts exhibited the highest repellence percentage against S. frugiperda (95%) and P. xylostella (90%). The feeding deterrence bioassay showed that M. azedarach and Trichilia dregeana extracts displayed excellent antifeeding activity against the S. frugiperda (deterrent coefficient, 83.95) and P. xylostella (deterrent coefficient, 112.25), respectively. The topical application bioassay demonstrated that Ekebergia capensis extracts had the highest larval mortality against S. frugiperda (LD₅₀ 0.14 mg/kg). Conversely, M. azedarach extracts showed the highest larval mortality against P. xylostella (LD₅₀ 0.14 mg/kg). GC-MS analysis revealed that all plant extracts had compounds belonging to the two noteworthy groups (phenols and terpenes), which possess insecticidal properties. Overall, this study lends scientific credence to the folkloric use of Meliaceae species as potential biocontrol agents against insect pests.

Five new seco-labdane-type diterpenoids from Caesalpinia latisiliqua

Five new seco-labdane-type diterpenoids, caesalatisics A-E (1-5), were isolated from the leaves of Caesalpinia latisiliqua (Cav.) Hattink. Their chemical structures were determined using 1D and 2D NMR, mass spectra, and circular dichroism spectroscopies.

Three new ester glycosides with cytotoxic activity from the seeds of Caesalpinia sappan

Three new ester glycosides, named as Caesateroside A (1), Caesateroside B (2) and Caesateroside C (3) were obtained from the seeds of Caesalpinia sappan. The new structures of compounds 1-3 were elucidated by analyzing their 1 D NMR, 2 D NMR and HR-ESI-MS spectra. Compounds 1-3 showed weak-moderate cytotoxicity against Hela and HepG-2 human cancer cell lines.

New Cassane Diterpenoids from Caesalpinia sappan and their Antiplasmodial Activity

One new cassane diterpene possessing an unusual N bridge between C-19 and C-20 named caesalsappanin R (1), as well as another new diterpene caesalsappanin S (2), were isolated from the seeds of Caesalpinia sappan with methanol extract. Their structures were determined by spectroscopic analysis and examined alongside existing data from prior studies. Their biological activities were profiled by their antiplasmodial activity.

Diterpenes and Their Derivatives as Potential Anticancer Agents

As therapeutic tools, diterpenes and their derivatives have gained much attention of the medicinal scientists nowadays. It is due to their pledging and important biological activities. This review congregates the anticancer diterpenes. For this, a search was made with selected keywords in PubMed, Science Direct, Web of Science, Scopus, The American Chemical Society and miscellaneous databases from January 2012 to January 2017 for the published articles. A total 28, 789 published articles were seen. Among them, 240 were included in this study. More than 250 important anticancer diterpenes and their derivatives were seen in the databases, acting in the different pathways. Some of them are already under clinical trials, while others are in the nonclinical and/or pre-clinical trials. In conclusion, diterpenes may be one of the lead molecules in the treatment of cancer. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Diterpenoids of terrestrial origin

This review covers the isolation and chemistry of diterpenoids from terrestrial as opposed to marine sources and includes labdanes, clerodanes, abietanes, pimaranes, kauranes, cembranes and their cyclization products. The literature from January to December, 2016 is reviewed.

Diterpenoids of the Cassane Type from Caesalpinia decapetala

Eighteen compounds, including eight new cassane-type furanoditerpenoids, 3β-hydroxyphanginin H (1), 3β-acetoxyphanginin H (2), 7β-acetoxyphanginin H (3), 7β-hydroxyphanginin H (4), 4-epi-3β-hydroxycaesalpinilinn (5), 4-epi-3β-acetoxycaesalpinilinn (6), 20-acetoxytaepeenin D (7), and tomocin E (8), along with 10 known compounds (9-18) were isolated from the roots of Caesalpinia decapetala. Compounds 1-13 were isolated from C. decapetala for the first time. The new compounds with their absolute configurations were determined by extensive spectroscopic analysis, single-crystal X-ray diffraction, and electronic circular dichroism calculations. Compounds 1, 4, 5, 7, and 11 exhibited inhibitory activities against the SW1990 human pancreatic cancer cell line with IC₅₀ values ranging from 2.9 to 8.9 μM.