Natural products from Cephalotaxus sp.: chemical diversity and synthetic aspects

The Cephalotaxus genus belongs to the Cephalotaxaceae family of conifers. Over the past decades it has proved to be a fruitful source of interesting natural products, especially alkaloids (cephalotaxine esters) and terpenoids (abietanes, troponoids), which often display medicinal properties, especially in the anticancer area. Homoharringtonine is active against some orphan leukaemia and is nowadays approaching marketability. A phytochemical update will be provided and the total synthesis of alkaloids and terpenoids will be discussed in detail.