Antimalarial application of quinones: A recent update

Atovaquone belongs to a naphthoquinone class of drugs and is used in combination with proguanil (Malarone) for the treatment of acute, uncomplicated malaria caused by Plasmodium falciparum (including chloroquine-resistant P. falciparum/P. vivax). Numerous quinone-derived compounds have attracted considerable attention in the last few decades due to their potential in antimalarial drug discovery. Several semi-synthetic derivatives of natural quinones, synthetic quinones (naphtho-/benzo-quinone, anthraquinones, thiazinoquinones), and quinone-based hybrids were explored for their in vitro and in vivo antimalarial activities. A careful literature survey revealed that this topic has not been compiled as a review article so far. Therefore, we herein summarise the recent discovery (the year 2009-2020) of quinone based antimalarial compounds in chronological order. This compilation would be very useful towards the exploration of novel quinone-derived compounds against malarial parasites with promising efficacy and lesser side effects.