Biological Activity of Bicyclic Monoterpene Alcohols

The present paper aims to study the biological properties of a series of bicyclic monoterpene alcohols. Firstly, we tested the obtained compounds for fungicidal activity against clinical and reference strains of microscopic fungi. Next, we determined the minimum inhibitory concentration of these compounds comparing to other drugs widely used in practical medicine (fluconazole, terbinafine). At this stage, we found that ( −)-myrtenol (47 MIC and 23.5 μg/ml) exhibits the most promising activity against filamentous and yeast fungi, respectively. Then, we have studied the membrane-protective and antioxidant activities of the obtained compounds and found out that ( −)-cis-verbenol and ( −)-myrtenol exhibit the highest activity on the model of erythrocytes oxidative hemolysis. Interestingly, among all the studied bicyclic monoterpene alcohols, the alcohols of the pinane series have been found to be the most promising. The obtained results from the present study suggest that ( −)-myrtenol would be a leading compound for further studies in terms of possible practical application.