Selaginellaceae polyphenols

Selaginella pulvinata and Selaginella tamariscia belong to the genus selaginella (Selaginellaceae) and were used in traditional folklore medicine. In recent years, various polyphenols with intriguing chemical structures were isolated from these species, including selaginellins, selaginpulvilins, selagibenzophenones, selaphenins, and selaginones. The unusual structural motifs and the potential for the application in medicinal chemistry were the main motivations for our research in the field of Selaginellacea polyphenols research.

Selaginpulvilines. In the collaboration with prof. Martin Kotora, we developed a formal synthesis of selaginpulvilin C and D. The main structural feature, namely the fluorene core, was constructed using catalytic [2+2+2]-cyclotrimerization reaction. Org. Lett. 2021, 23, 4511-4515.

                                                                           

 

 

Selaginenzophenones A and B. Selagibenzophenones are regioisomeric compounds, but their reported spectral characterization shares a striking similarity. We prepared both compounds and found out, that spectral characterization of synthetic selagibenzophenone B does not match the reported spectra and the isolated compound described as selagibenzophenone B is in fact selagibenzophenone A (Catalysts 2021, 11(6), 708). 

 

 

Selagibenophenone C is another representative that we synthesized. Here, the comparison of the spectral characterization of the synthetic and isolated material showed a good match (Eur. J. Org.Chem. 2022,e202200014).