Biography
Biography: Jun Wu
Abstract
Mangrove plants are a large group of different salt tolerant plants growing in tropical and subtropical intertidal estuarine zones. Limonoids, which have been found mainly in plants of the families Meliaceae, Rutaceae, and Simaroubaceae, are modified triterpene derivatives originating from a precursor with a 4,4,8-trimethyl-17-furanylsteroid skeleton displaying four – usually highly oxidized – rings (designated as A, B, C, and D) in the intact triterpene backbone. The mangroves of the genus Xylocarpus are known to produce a variety of antifeedant limonoids, especially mexicanolides and phragmalins. During the recent ten years, my team has identified more than 150 new limonoids from mangrove plants of the genus Xylocarpus collected in south China, India, and Thailand. More than 30 limonoids, such as xylogranatins F-R (1-13), andhraxylocarpins A-E (14- 18), and thaixylomolins A-C (19-21) (Fig. 1), are compounds with new skeletons. These limonoids exhibited plentiful chemical diversity. It is suggested that environmental factors might play the leading role in the generation of structural diversity of limonoids from those mangroves. The study also demonstrates that mangroves of the genus Xylocarpus are a rich source for the production of limonoids with novel carbon frameworks.