This book demonstrates the connections between agrochemicals and pharmaceuticals and explores the use of plants and plant products in the formulation and development of pharmaceuticals.

Scientists from chemistry, pharmacology, and botany review the use of plants and plant products in the formulation and development of pharmaceuticals. The first chapter links pharmaceuticals with agrochemicals, the topic of a companion volume. Other topics include realizing the therapeutic potential of plant-derived compounds, recent trends, discovering antifungal agents, structure-activity relationships of peroxide-based artemisinin antimalarials, annonaceous acetogenins as new pesticidal and antitumor agents, the standardization and biological activity of Panax ginseng, and marine natural products as leads to developing new drugs and insecticides.
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Biologically Active Natural Products: Pharmaceuticals demonstrates the connections between agrochemicals and pharmaceuticals and explores the use of plants and plant products in the formulation and development of pharmaceuticals. Experts from around the world examine a multitude of topics, including evaluation of extracts from tropical plants for potential anticancer activity and cancer chemopreventive activity; use of Chinese lacquer tree sap products as pharmaceutical intermediates; and new approaches to drug discovery from the rainforest.

Strategy for Rapid Identification of Novel Therapeutical Leads from Natural Products.- Oxidation Products of Dithiol and Cysteine Catalyzed by Rhus Laccase from Chinese Lacquer.- Review of Saponins Used in Foods, Agriculture, and Medicine.- Reactive Quinones: From Chemical Defense Mechanisms in Plants to Drug Design. Opiate-Derived Ligands as Phamacologic Tools and Potential Medicinal Agents.- Structure and Bioactivities of Oriental Lacquer Polysaccharides from Different Sources.- Structure-Activity Relationships of Peroxide-Based Artemisinin Antimalarials.- The Therapeutical Potential of Plant-Derived Compounds: Realizing the Potential.- Discovery of Antifungal Agents from Natural Sources: Virulence Factor Targets.- Naturally Occurring Antimutagenic and Cytoprotective Agents.- The Rainforest as Nature's Combinatorial Library.- The Design, Synthesis and Evaluation of Potential Human Complement Inhibitors Based on a Natural Product Model.- Fractionation of Plants to Discover Substances to Combat Cancer.- Highlights of Research on Plant-Derived Natural Prodcuts and Their Analogs with Antitumor, Anti-HIV, and Antifungal Activity.- Docking Study of 1-Chloro-2, 4-dinitrobenzene (CDNB) Binding at the Putative H-Site of Human Glutathione-S-Transferase Pi (GST-Pi) Polymorphic Proteins.- Nicotinic Agonists Based on Lobeline, Synthesis and Biological Evaluation.- Protein Kinase C Inhibitory Phenylpropanoid Glycosides from Polygonum Species.- Thwarting Resistance: Annonaceous Acetogenins as New Pesticidal and Antitumor Agents.- Isolation of Biologically Active Constituents of Papaver Somniferum, Erythroxylon Coca, and Cannabis Sativa.- Marine Natural Products as Antiinfective Agents.- Panax Ginseng: Standardisation and Biological Activity.- Commercialization of Plant-Derived Natural Products as Pharmaceuticals: A View from the Trenches.