DISCOVERIES

BENZOQUINONES

Source Plant

Collected by Randy Evans in northern Suriname (collector number unknown), 2-methoxy-6-heptyl-1,4-benzoquinone and 2-methoxy-6-pentyl-1,4-benzoquinone were isolated from an ethanolic extract from the leaves of Miconia lepidota Schrank & Mart. ex DC.

Chemical Structure

Activity

Both quinines exhibited activity toward mutant yeast strains based on Saccharomyces cerevisiae, indicative of their cytotoxicty and potential anticancer activity.

Reference

Gunatilaka, A.A. Leslie, J.M. Berger, R. Evans, J. Miller, J.H. Wisse, K.M. Nedderman, Isia Bursuker and D.G.I. Kingston. 2001. Isolation, synthesis and structure-activity relationships of bioactive benzoquinones from Miconia lepidota from the Suriname rain forest. J. Nat. Prod. 64: 2-5.

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