Studies in Natural Product Chemistry: Structure and Chemistry, Part D (Structure and Chemistry , Vol 17, Part D)

Rapid advances in chromatographic procedures, spectroscopic techniques and pharmacological assay methods have resulted in the discovery of an increasing number of new and interesting natural products from terrestrial and marine sources. The present volume contains comprehensive reviews on some of the major advances in this field which have taken place in recent years. The reviews include those on: novel metabolites from marine gastropods; the chemistry of marine natural products of the Halenaquinol family; secondary metabolites from Echinoderms and Bryozoans; triterpenoids and aromatic compounds from medicinal plants; chemistry and activity of sesquiterpenes from the genus Lactarius; the chemistry of bile alcohols; antifungal sesquiterpene dialdehydes; annonaceous acetogenins; nargenicin macrolides; and lignans and diarylheptanoids. Tropane alkaloids and phenolides formed by root cultures are also reviewed. Articles on natural Diels-Alder type adducts, the use of computer aided overlay for modelling the substrate binding domain of HLADH, applications of 170 NMR spectroscopy to natural product chemistry and the role of biological raw materials in synthesis are included. Volume 17 provides material of interest to natural products chemists. There is an insatiable desire by humans for sweet substances, more so for the hedonic delight of the sweet taste sensation rather than for caloric needs (1) In fact, evidence has been put forth that even a five-month-old human fetus has a liking for sweet substances (2) Sucrose, the most abundant of all sugars, has been known and used as a sweetener and food item since as far back as 2,000 B C It is one of 100 or so saccharides that have been demonstrated to exhibit a sweet taste, and is by far the most widely used sugar (3) Sugar cane (Saccharum officinarum L) and sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L) are the two major sources of sucrose The world production of sucrose from these two sources exceeded 100 million metric tons in 1988 (4).