Secondary Metabolites from Brazilian Biodiversity, Source of Structural Beauty and Complexity Tracing New Models for Medicinal Chemistry

The Brazilian biodiversity embodies a valuable source of secondary metabolites, which could be useful source of new molecular models for medicinal chemistry. The value of secondary metabolites as templates for medicinal chemistry remains undisputed, and the tropical biomes are particularly rich sources of biologically active compounds, with unmatched structures, many of these still have been completely unexplored. NuBBE_DB ¹ has catalogued ca. of 640 compounds, some of these have important ecological functions, and therefore, they are useful models for further pharmacological studies. Some examples of promise secondary metabolites as potential acetyl cholinesterase and protease inhibitors will be presented, and one of these, dealt with metabolomics studies of a Banisteriopsis mucronata (Malpighaceae), a plant species used in religious rituals, which EtOH extract showed potent acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity. Our results led to the identification of a series of new acetylcholinesterase inhibitors, besides toxic tryptamines and β-barbolines, among of these; one was identified as 5-methoxy-N-N-dimethyltryptamine, a powerful hallucinogenic compound.

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