Acta Biochimica Polonica, 61(2), 227-243, Review
Triterpene sapogenins with oleanene skeleton: chemotypes and biological activities
Kamil Jatczak and Grzegorz Grynkiewicze-mail
Pharmaceutical Research Institute, Warsaw, Poland
Keywords: pentacyclic triterpenes, oleanane derivatives, oleanolic acid exploratory chemistry and experimental pharmacology
Received: 18 February, 2014; revised: 16 April, 2014; accepted: 29 April, 2014; available on-line: 11 June, 2014
Critical survey of a selected class of pentacyclic triterpenes - the oleanane family, is presented based on current literature in order to underline their value for medicinal chemistry and drug development potential. Oleanenes may be considered as a renewable resource of valuable research materials which are structurally diverse, inherently biocompatible and have built-in affinity for many categories of functional proteins. Although availability of particular compounds from natural sources may be very low, synthetic methods elaborated by generations of chemists, secure a way to obtaining desirable structures from commercial starting materials.
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