Recent progress in the marine sterol field

Abstract

This paper covers recent work - much of it from the authors’ laboratory - dealing with novel 3β-hydroxy marine sterols possessing unusual side chains, which have hitherto not been encountered in terrestrial sources. Aside from a description of the proof of structure and stereochemistry of these sterols, attention is also drawn to plausible models of biosynthesis and to the possible biological role in membrane function. © IUPAC