C15043. Chemical Constituents of Plants from the Genus Phlegmariurus.

Phlegmariurus is a genus of ca. 200 species in the family Huperziaceae, mainly distributing in tropical and subtropical Asia, with 23 species being endemic to South China [1]. The whole plants of several species of Phlegmariurus genus have been used in traditional Chinese medicine. For example, P. phlegmaria (L.) Holub was used for the treatment of rheumatic pain, arthritis, traumatic injury, sore throat, edema and urticaria [2]. Since huperzine A, a potent, reversible and selective acetylcholinesterase inhibitor and a promising drug for the treatment of symptoms of Alzheimer's disease was discovered from Huperzia serrata (Thunb. Ex Murray) Trev. (Huperziaceae), numerous efforts on the isolation of new potent alkaloids from H. serrata and related plants have been carried out by many research groups, which led to the isolation of a series of plant constituents, especially lycopodium alkaloids with diverse structures of many unusual skeletons of interest from biogenetic and biological points of view and challenging targets for total synthesis [3-8]. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.