The potential role of sesquiterpene lactones isolated from medicinal plants in the treatment of the metabolic syndrome - A review.

Metabolic syndrome comprises a cluster of metabolic disorders related to the development of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus. In latter years, plant secondary metabolites have become of special interest because of their potential role in preventing and managing metabolic syndrome. Sesquiterpene lactones constitute a large and diverse group of biologically active compounds widely distributed in several medicinal plants used for the treatment of metabolic disorders. The structural diversity and the broad spectrum of biological activities of these compounds drew significant interests in the pharmacological applications. This review describes selected sesquiterpene lactones that have been experimentally validated for their biological activities related to risk factors of metabolic syndrome, together with their mechanisms of action. The potential beneficial effects of sesquiterpene lactones discussed in this review demonstrate that these substances represent remarkable compounds with a diversity of molecular structure and high biological activity, providing new insights into the possible role in metabolic syndrome management.

Synthesis of a new (1R)-(-)-myrtenal-derived dioxadithiadodecacycle and its use as an efficient chiral auxiliary.

[reaction: see text] The new macrocycle 9 (>70% yield from hydroxythiol 10) was treated with several nucleophilic reagents (RMgX, RLi, and LiAlH4) affording carbinols 12a-j (80-96% yield, >99:1 dr). Oxidative hydrolysis of 12a,c,e, followed by LiAlH4 reduction of the resulting mixture, gave 16a,c,e in >95% ee,16c being a key precursor for the preparation of fungicide 17. The absolute configuration of 9 and 12j (Nu = H) was established by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analyses and chemical correlation.