Insights on the isolation, biological activity and synthetic protocols of enyne derivatives

Enyne derivatives isolated from terrestrial plants and fungi have recently attracted attention due to their interesting biological activities. It was found that these derivatives possess in general potent antiinflammatory activity which was attributed to the structural similarity of enynes with the natural antiinflammatory agents secreted in the human body. The biosynthesis of some of the isolated enynes has been proposed based on detailed isotope labeling studies. Computational calculations have been utilized to analyze the conformational preferences and forces affecting interaction of some enynes with the target binding sites. Synthesis of enynes has been achieved using several coupling techniques. In the current review we shed some light on the isolation, biological activity, and biosynthetic routes of enynes. We also recount different synthetic methodologies developed for the synthesis of compounds containing enyne functional group.