Bioactive Sesquiterpene Coumarins From Plants

Abstract Sesquiterpene coumarin is a small group in a family of natural products from plants. It has been isolated from Ferula (Apiaceae), Daucus (Apiaceae), Heptaptera (Apiaceae), Dorema (Apiaceae), Artemisia (Asteraceae), Achillea (Asteraceae), Tanacetum (Asteraceae), Anthemis (Asteraceae), Brocchia (Asteraceae), Euphorbia (Euphorbiaceae), Jatropha (Euphorbiaceae), and Aegle (Rutaceae). Especially, sesquiterpene coumarin is the characteristic bioactive composition of herbs from Ferula genus. About 181 sesquiterpene coumarins have been reported in the past 35 years, among which 135 ones were identified from Ferula genus. Its structure is usually composed of a sesquiterpene moiety and a coumarin frame. The coumarin unit consists of umbelliferone (7-hydroxycoumarin), scopoletin (7-hydroxy-6-methoxycoumarin), or isofraxidin (7-hyroxy-6,8-dimethoxycoumarin), while the sesquiterpene moiety presents as acyclic sesquiterpenes or cyclic sesquiterpenes. And the first classification of sesquiterpene coumarin has been established based upon the different connection (C–C or C–O) between sesquiterpene and coumarin units incorporated in the basic molecular structure. And the second classification is carried out by the structure difference of coumarin moieties. Up to now, diverse bioactivities and pharmacological effects of sesquiterpene coumarins have been reported, including antitumor, antiinflammatory, antibacterial, antivirus, antiparasitic and antiulcer.