Monoterpenes and Their Derivatives—Recent Development in Biological and Medical Applications

Abstract

Monoterpenes, comprising hydrocarbons, are the largest class of plant secondary metabolites and are commonly found in essential oils. Monoterpenes and their derivatives are key ingredients in the design and production of new biologically active compounds. This review focuses on selected aliphatic, monocyclic, and bicyclic monoterpenes like geraniol, thymol, myrtenal, pinene, camphor, borneol, and their modified structures. The compounds in question play a pivotal role in biological and medical applications. The review also discusses anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, anticonvulsant, analgesic, antiviral, anticancer, antituberculosis, and antioxidant biological activities exhibited by monoterpenes and their derivatives. Particular attention is paid to the link between biological activity and the effect of structural modification of monoterpenes and monoterpenoids, as well as the introduction of various functionalized moieties into the molecules in question.

Bioactive Secondary Metabolites of the Genus Diaporthe and Anamorph Phomopsis from Terrestrial and Marine Habitats and Endophytes: 2010–2019

“…Monoterpenoids and their derivatives have a variety of biological activities, such as cytotoxic, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory, which have potential application value in clinical medicine [ 116 ]. Acropyrone ( 172 ) was extracted from culture of Phomopsis sp.…”

Comparative Analysis of Volatile Terpenes and Terpenoids in the Leaves of Pinus Species—A Potentially Abundant Renewable Resource

“…These compounds usually have important biological activities. Among them, monoterpenes are mainly used for analgesia, sterilization, antivirus, and sedation [ 22 ]. á-Pinene, and á-myrcene have analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antitussive and expectorant effects [ 23 ].…”

Selected Monocyclic Monoterpenes and Their Derivatives as Effective Anticancer Therapeutic Agents

“…The discussed menthol derivatives have very complex structures, including oligomers [ 83 ] and complexes [ 85 ]. All of the discussed compounds contain functional groups that are commonly used as biologically active molecules, such as ether, ester, imino groups or N -acylhydrazones scaffolds [ 13 ]. It would be interesting to test antitumor activity in other menthol derivatives that also contain the discussed functional groups but perhaps smaller with less steric hindrance.…”

“…The bioactivities of monoterpenes are extensively reviewed in the literature. Many of these describe biomedical applications of essential oils and unmodified terpenes [ 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ]; in contrast, articles dedicated to the biological activity of monoterpene derivatives are particularly rare [ 3 , 13 ]. Modifications of these natural compounds with proven biological properties are highly desirable.…”