Bromopyrrole marine alkaloids

Abstract

Organic small molecules that are part of the secondary metabolites produced by plants, insects, microorganisms and marine organisms are a rich source of diversity and complexity of unique chemical structures and inspire researchers from different areas of science. Among marine organisms, sponges produce a wide variety of secondary metabolites, many of them having original scaffolds, arousing great interest to medicinal chemistry and pharmacology. These compounds represent an important natural resource in the discovery of new drugs against cancer and other serious diseases. Among them, bromopyrrole alkaloids are part of a family of exclusively marine compounds and are representatives of the chemical diversity of secondary metabolites biosynthesized by marine invertebrates. The interest in this class of natural products has increased due its intriguing and promising pharmacological properties, such as α-blockers, serotonin antagonists, kinase activity inhibitors, neuroprotective, antimalarial, analgesic, anticancer, antibacterial, antifungal and antihistamine. Since the discovery of oroidin, the first member of this alkaloids family, hundreds of structurally related compounds have been described, with many different pharmacological activities. Oroidin alkaloids became a relevant source of inspiration for medicinal chemists and has been widely used as prototypes for the design of new chemical entities with pharmacological activity and have already led to several bioactive synthetic analogs described in the literature.