Quinone/Hydroquinone Sesquiterpenes

The quinone/hydroquinone sesquiterpenes of drimane or rearranged drimane skeletons constitute a wide and diverse group of secondary metabolites of mixed biogenesis. These compounds are mainly of marine origin and their interest is not only for the variety of isolated structure but for the interesting biological activities that they present. In this paper a series of quinone/hydroquinone sesquiterpenes of natural origin that have been reported to date is presented. The structures of these compounds are gathered into eight groups with reference to their biological activities and compounds synthesised. Keywords: Sesquiterpenes quinone/hydroquinone, drimane, rearranged drimane