Cart
Article
Old Yet New—Pharmaceuticals from Plants
Hi-Res PDFPurchase the full-text
- PDF/HTML,
figures/images,
references and tables,
(where available)
Abstract
Plants or their crude extracts have been used since prehistory to treat human ailments. Plants are still used in this way in many parts of the world, but Western scientific medicine has tended to isolate active compounds, or make derivatives of them, for use as drugs. Compounds produced by the plant have been important pharmaceuticals since the isolation of morphine almost two hundred years ago and new naturally occurring compounds such as paclitaxel are continually being introduced commercially. Bioactive molecules may also be produced from chemicals found in plants by chemical modification using synthetic chemistry or microorganisms (as in the production of steroids). A third major contribution of plant chemicals to drugs is their utilization as templates for the design of new compounds made by synthesis (e.g. the discovery of aspirin and related compounds from substances in willow bark). New pharmaceuticals from plants are being discovered by examining traditional medicines and by large-scale bioassay screening processes. In addition, the chemical survival systems of plants that exist in hostile environments are receiving increasing attention as leads to discover active compounds. The knowledge of botanical relationships helps find new sources of known compounds of interest and novel compounds with similar structures from related species. Future prospects for the discovery of new compounds from plants are broadened by the new technologies of gene manipulation, tissue culture, and combinatorial chemistry, so it is very likely that natural products from plants will continue to play an important role in the fight against disease.
Keywords (Audience):
General PublicKeywords (Domain):
History / PhilosophyKeywords (Feature):
Products of ChemistryKeywords (Subject):
Bioorganic ChemistryCiting Articles
Citation data is made available by participants in CrossRef's Cited-by Linking service. For a more comprehensive list of citations to this article, users are encouraged to perform a search in SciFinder.
This article has been cited by 3 ACS Journal articles (3 most recent appear below).
Exploration of the Chemistry of Plants: A General Education Course
Margareta SéquinJournal of Chemical Education2005 82 (12), 1787Exploration of the Chemistry of Plants: A General Education Course
Margareta SéquinJournal of Chemical Education2005 82 (12), 1787Chemical compounds and reactions as found in the world of plants were the basis for a new one-semester general education lecture course for college students. A separate laboratory course that included two field trips further elaborated on the lecture ...
Natural Products as Scaffolds for Chemical Diversification: Solution-Phase Parallel Synthesis of a Series of Naringin Analogues
Stephen Hanessian and Kiran Kumar KothakondaJournal of Combinatorial Chemistry2005 7 (6), 837-842Natural Products as Scaffolds for Chemical Diversification: Solution-Phase Parallel Synthesis of a Series of Naringin Analogues
Stephen Hanessian and Kiran Kumar KothakondaJournal of Combinatorial Chemistry2005 7 (6), 837-842The flavanone glycoside naringin hydrate is widely abundant in various citrus plants. As an ongoing effort toward the exploitation of natural products as scaffolds for chemical diversification at readily accessible positions, we have prepared a series of ...
Especially for High School Teachers
J. Emory HowellJournal of Chemical Education2001 78 (11), 1441Especially for High School Teachers
J. Emory HowellJournal of Chemical Education2001 78 (11), 1441Applications of chemistry to papermaking.
Full Text HTMLTools
-
Add to Favorites
-
Download Citation
-
Email a Colleague -
Permalink
Order Reprints
Rights & Permissions
Citation Alerts
SciFinder Links
Explore by:
History
- Received: August 03, 2009
ACS
Network
Facebook
Tweet This
CiteULike
Newsvine
Digg This
Delicious
