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Updated: Jun 23, 2026
A Customizable Approach for the Enzymatic Production and Purification of Diterpenoid Natural Products
Published on: October 4, 2019
Antibacterial diterpenes from Plectranthus ernstii
Michael Stavri1, Alan Paton, Brian W Skelton
1Centre for Pharmacognosy and Phytotherapy, The School of Pharmacy, University of London, London, UK.
Abstract:
Three new diterpenoids including two pimaranes (1 and 2) and a labdane (3) were isolated from the whole herb of Plectranthus ernstii. The structures of these compounds were determined as rel-15(zeta),16-epoxy-7alpha-hydroxypimar-8,14-ene (1) and rel-15(zeta),16-epoxy-7-oxopimar-8,14-ene (2), and compound 3 was elucidated as 1R,11S-dihydroxy-8R,13R-epoxylabd-14-ene on the basis of single-crystal X-ray structural analysis. Compound 1 exhibited moderate antistaphylococcal activity against a range of multidrug-resistant (MDR) and methicillin-resistant (MRSA) strains of Staphylococcus aureus with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 32 microg/mL. All three diterpenes exhibited antimycobacterial activity against three strains of rapidly growing mycobacteria with MIC values ranging from 8 to 128 microg/mL.
