The cytotoxic and antiproliferative properties of many natural sesquiterpene-quinones and -hydroquinones from sponges offer promising opportunities for the development of new drugs. A review dealing with different strategies for obtaining bioactive terpenyl quinones/hydroquinones is presented. The different synthetic approches for the preparation of the most relevant quinones/hydroquinones are ...

The 1,4-benzoquinone moiety is a common structural feature in a large number of compounds that have received considerable attention owing to their broad spectrum of biological activities. The cytotoxic and antiproliferative properties of many natural sesquiterpene quinones and hydroquinones from sponges of the order Dictyoceratida, such as avarol, avarone, illimaquinone, nakijiquinone and bolin...

Ascidians of the genus Aplidium are recognized as an important source of chemical diversity and bioactive natural products. Among the compounds produced by this genus are non-nitrogenous metabolites, mainly prenylated quinones and hydroquinones. This review discusses the isolation, structural elucidation, and biological activities of quinones, hydroquinones, rossinones, longithorones, longithor...

The biaryl coupling of substituted aromatic alcohols and the oxidation of p-hydroquinones with molecular oxygen catalyzed by VO(acac)2 were achieved in good to excellent yields.

Possessing the quinone moiety, ilimaquinone (1), a sponge–derived sesquiterpene quinone, has been hypothesised to express its cytotoxicity through redox cycling process, yielding active product(s) that can cause DNA damage. To determine damaging effects of 1 and examine whether transformation may participate in functions, properties 1, corresponding hydroquinone (2) triacetates (3) their 5-epim...

Sphingomonas chlorophenolica RA-2 is a soil microorganism that can grow on pentachlorophenol (PCP) as a sole carbon source. In this microorganism, PCP is converted to tetrachlorohydroquinone (TCHQ), trichlorohydroquinone, and 2,6-dichlorohydroquinone. The remainder of the pathway has not yet been defined. The ability to grow on PCP as a sole carbon source is remarkable because of the toxicity o...

Brown rot basidiomycetes initiate wood decay by producing extracellular reactive oxygen species that depolymerize the structural polysaccharides of lignocellulose. Secreted fungal hydroquinones are considered one contributor because they have been shown to reduce Fe(3+), thus generating perhydroxyl radicals and Fe(2+), which subsequently react further to produce biodegradative hydroxyl radicals...

Chlorinated hydroquinones of biological origin are fully dechlorinated to 1,4-dihydroquinone by anaerobic bacteria such as Desulfitobacterium spp. (C. E. Milliken, G. P. Meier, J. E. M. Watts, K. R. Sowers, and H. D. May, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 70:385-392, 2004). In the present study, mixed microbial communities from Baltimore Harbor sediment and a pure culture of Desulfitobacterium sp. stra...