Natural Products, Medicinal Plants & Marine Drugs

The ocean, which occupies just about three quarters of the surface of the planet, comprises of a huge diversity of living organisms. Such marine natural products continue to provide an unparalleled opportunity for driving creativity and discovery. In our continuing research towards the discovery of new biologically active natural products from Jamaican marine macroalgae, chemical study of the brown alga, Canistrocarpus cervicornis was launched. Marine macroalgae of this genus are known for producing dolastanes and seco-dolastanes, which have a broad spectrum of biological/ecological activity. In this communication, we will discuss the approaches and/or strategies which successfully led to the isolation of novel and known dolastanes with noteworthy biological activities. This study gave us some fundamental evidence that Jamaican marine organisms can result in the discovery of structurally novel natural products with possible benefits to mankind