Book Review pubs.acs.org/jnp
Review of Natural Products Isolation 145), the stereochemical assignments of (+)-3-O-feruloylcassine, (−)-spectaline, and (−)-acetylspectaline (p 179), and the structure of 3-caffeolylquinic acid methyl ester (p 182). Negative considerations on the difficulty of structural assignments of novel compounds (p 17) are of poor educational and professional value. After all, the discovery of unprecedented compounds should be the aim of all those truly engaged in relevant achievements on natural products sciences. The question of the supply issue is not addressed at all in the book, but a rather overoptimistic view for biological material availability is presented (e.g., p 28) or even a complete opposite opinion (e.g., p 35). Not a single strategy for the optimization of microbial secondary metabolites production is described in Chapter 15. Considering that the supply issue is one of major drawbacks for using secondary metabolites as sources of many useful products, this topic would deserve a more detailed discussion, if not a whole chapter. Even considering the drawbacks mentioned above, this is a useful book for those involved in natural products isolation.
Natural Products Isolation. By Satyajit D. Sarker (University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton) and Lutfun Nahar (De Montfort University, Leicester). Humana Press-Springer, New York. 2012. xii + 552 pp. 18 × 26 cm. US $149.00. ISBN 978-161779-623-4.
T
his is the third edition of the book that constitutes a useful reference for natural product chemists and other professionals who have to evaluate different approaches for the isolation of secondary metabolites from almost all possible natural biological sources. The book is divided into 20 chapters covering different aspects and techniques, most of which are widely used in the isolation of natural products. The third edition has a very extensive redundancy to the second edition, with the exception of Chapters 4 (accelerated extractions), 5 (microwave-assisted extractions), 11 (isolation using preparative gas chromatography), 16 (isolation of saponins), 17 (isolation of phenolic compounds), and 20 (isolation of natural products in modern drug discovery programs). Chapters that have not been updated, but deserve to be, include those on dereplication approaches and on the isolation of water-soluble compounds. Curiously, some outdated tests are still considered as useful, such as for plant metabolite groups using particular reactions. The chapter on the isolation of marine natural products provides no examples that could illustrate some particularities in the purification of compounds from extracts rich in salts. As for Chapter 15 (isolation of microbial compounds), only one example of the procedure is provided. Chapter 16, on the isolation of saponins, does not mention the seminal research on the separation of saponins from holothurians and sea-stars developed by Russian and Italian groups during several years. The chapter on the scaling-up isolation of natural products refers only to the use of microbial cultures. The addition of a chapter on the isolation of volatile compounds would be most valuable, considering many aspects involved in pheromone uses in biological control, as well as for the isolation of fragrant compounds of interest for industry, for example. Another missing subject is the isolation of minor compounds in minute quantities. Chapters that are truly instructive include Chapters 3 (on the use of supercritical fluid extraction) and 20 (natural products isolation in modern drug discovery programs), which are very well written and present thoughtful discussions of much interest. Several concerns arise among the procedures described in the book. These include the use of solvents that are environmentally unfriendly (such as chlorinated) and performing extractions under high temperatures (as described in Chapter 4). A careful revision of such approaches would be useful for the readers, in order to avoid potential hurdles and loss of precious material. The structures of many compounds require a revision of drawing, such as those of schischkinin (p 14), 8-hydroxycanthin-6-one (p 137), the alkaloid from Eriostemon gardneri (p © 2017 American Chemical Society and American Society of Pharmacognosy
Roberto G. S. Berlinck
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Universidade de São Paulo, Sao Carlos, Brazil
AUTHOR INFORMATION
ORCID
Roberto G. S. Berlinck: 0000-0003-0118-2523 Notes
The author declares no competing financial interest.
Published: September 13, 2017 2590
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.7b00710 J. Nat. Prod. 2017, 80, 2590−2590
