Natural Products: Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmacology attempts to provide an insight into significant developments in some of the promising areas of natural products chemistry. Natural products are of great interest and promise in the present day research directed towards drug design and discovery. This book brings together, in twenty-one chapters, by leading scientists of the world, an overview of current discoveries and trends in this remarkable field. The topics, ranging from natural products chemistry and phytochemistry in their most basic form to molecular biology, pharmacology and in silico drug design, summarize years of extensive research in each area, and provide insight in the new themes of natural products research. The book serves as a valuable resource for researchers in their own fields to predict promising leads for developing pharmaceuticals to treat various ailments and disease manifestations; it also motivates young scientists to the dynamic field of bioactive natural products research.

Foreword / Preface / List of Contributors / Mother Nature – An Inexhaustible Source of Drugs and Lead Molecules / Plant Natural Products say “NO Way” to Mammalian Nitric Oxide Synthases / Natural Products as Inhibitors of Matrix Metalloproteinases / Natural Products as Anticancer Agents: An Overview / Immunomodulatory and Anti-tumor Actions of Tinospora Cordifolia (Guduchi) / Natural Products and Protozoan Neglected Diseases: Malaria, Trypanosomiasis and Leishmaniasis / Balanites Aegyptiaca Saponins: Chemistry and Applications / Physiological Activity of Essential Oils: Aromatherapy for Holistic Healing / Chemical Studies on Taxus Canadensis / Chemical and Pharmacological research of the Plants from Genus Celastrus / Studies on the Biological Activity of the Plants of the Family Thymelaeaceae (1990-2007) / Plant Terpenoids: Old Secondary Metabolites with New Therapeutic Properties / Triterpenes for the Plants of the Family Clusiaceae (Guttiferae): Chemistry and Biological Activities / A New Flavonoidal Glycoside from Acacia Arabica (Lam.) Willd.: Chemistry and Antimicrobial Activity / Sulfated Flavonoids: Nature Playing with the Hydrophilic-Hydrophobic Balance / Natural Prenylated Flavones: Chemistry and Biological Activities – An Overview / An Account on Color Reagents for Detection of Amino Acids and Interaction of Metal Ions with Some Non-Conventional Seed Proteins / X-Ray Crystallographic Studies and Role of Weak Intermolecular Interactions in Some Oxygen Heterocycles / Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic Behaviour of Natural Abietane-Diterpenoids: A Look Through / Michael Addition Reaction: Applications in Total Synthesis of Bioactive Natural Products / Index.

Students & Researchers in Chemistry, Pharmacology, Drug Development and Medicinal Plants