Recent advances in cassane diterpenoids - structural diversity and biological activities

Sep 30, 2026

Cassane diterpenoids are naturally occurring compounds featuring three fused cyclohexane rings and are mainly isolated from the genus Caesalpinia. They show a broad pharmacological spectrum, including anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, cytotoxic, antiparasitic, antidiabetic, and neuroprotective effects. This review updates newly reported cassane diterpenoids from 2019 to 2025, classifying them by carbon skeleton and summarizing biological activities alongside biosynthetic pathways, isolation/purification, and structure–activity relationships.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages31

Reading Time1 h 18 min

AccessFree to download

1. Introduction

Cassane diterpenoids overview and pharmacological relevance

Scope and aims of the 2019–2025 update

RSC Advances REVIEW Cite this: RSC Adv., 2026, 16, 2062 Received 18th September 2025 Accepted 26th December 2025 DOI: 10.1039/d5ra07088k[rsc.li/rsc-advances](rsc.li/rsc-advances) Recent advances in cassane diterpenoids: structural diversity and biological activities Sabrin R. M. Ibrahim, *ab Hagar M. Mohamed, cd Samar S. A. Murshid, e Asma Ahmad Nashawif and Gamal A. Mohamed e Cassane diterpenoids are naturally occurring compounds, characterized mainly by molecular skeletons of three fused cyclohexane rings. They are predominantly isolated from the genus Caesalpinia (Fabaceae) . Cassane diterpenoids possess various pharmacological activities, including anti-inﬂammatory, antibacterial, cytotoxic, antiparasitic, antidiabetic, and neuroprotective eﬀects. This work provides an update on the newly reported cassane diterpenoids from 2019 to 2025 . In this work, cassane diterpenoids are categorized according to their carbon skeletons into usual tricyclic cassanes, tricyclic cassane with butanolide, cassane furanoditerpenoids, norcassanes, cassane ester amines, cassane amides, and penta-spiro cassanes. Their reported biological activities, together with biosynthetic pathways, isolation and puriﬁcation, and structure–activity relationships, are discussed. A total of 238 compounds were discussed, and 55 references were listed. The reported ﬁndings expand the knowledge of chemical features and biological potential of cassane diterpenoids and support their further investigation as promising leads for drug discovery. 1. Introduction The shared challenges that people face worldwide include attaining zero hunger, ending poverty, improving nutritional status, enhancing people's health, promoting sustainable agriculture, delivering aﬀordable health care services, and limiting climate change. The UN General Assembly passed a resolution titled “Transforming our world: the 2030 agenda for sustainable development,” that included 17 SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) . Providing a sustainable global health care system by 2030 is among these SDGs, and global eﬀorts have been directed towards 􀀁nding new and innovative solutions for achieving this goal. Medicinal plants are among the most important sources of medicine, and millions of people rely on herbal medicine for their treatments and cures. Additionally, their constituents have long been known to play an essential aPreparatory Year Program, Department of Chemistry, Batterjee Medical College, Jeddah 21442, Saudi Arabia. E-mail: [sabrin.ibrahim@bmc.edu](sabrin.ibrahim@bmc.edu); Tel: +966-581183034 bDepartment of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Assiut University, Assiut 71526, Egypt cDepartment of Medical Laboratory Analysis, College of Medical & Health Sciences, Liwa University, Abu Dhabi 41009, United Arab of Emirates. E-mail: Hagar.aly@lc. [ac.ae](ac.ae) dDepartment of Applied Medical Chemistry, Medical Research Institute, Alexandria University, Alexandria, [Egypt. E-mail: Hagar-aly@hotmail.com](Egypt. E-mail: Hagar-aly@hotmail.com) eDepartment of Natural Products and Alternative Medicine, Faculty of Pharmacy, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia. E-mail: [samurshid@kau.edu.sa](samurshid@kau.edu.sa); [gahussein@kau.edu.sa](gahussein@kau.edu.sa) fDepartment of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia. E-mail: [anashawi@kau.edu.sa](anashawi@kau.edu.sa) role in the development and discovery of therapeutic agents because of their remarkable structural diversity and wide range of bioactivities. Terpenes are the largest, most common class of natural secondary metabolites, comprising over 30 000 members found in all organisms, particularly the higher plants.1 Among them, diterpenoids consisting of four isoprene units, are distinguished by their wide range of pharmacological properties and structural features. Cassane diterpenoids are characterized by a trans–trans–fused tricyclic (6/6/6

FAQs

What are cassane diterpenoids characterized by structurally?

They are characterized mainly by a molecular skeleton of three fused cyclohexane rings (A, B, and C), forming a trans–trans–fused tricyclic carbon framework with specific substituents.

Which pharmacological activities are associated with cassane diterpenoids?

Reported activities include anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, cytotoxic, antiparasitic, antidiabetic, and neuroprotective effects, among others.

How does the review organize cassane diterpenoids and what additional information is discussed?

Compounds are categorized by carbon skeleton into several groups, and the review discusses reported biological activities together with biosynthetic pathways, isolation and purification, and structure–activity relationships.

Sep 30, 2026

Upload by WPS_1786070896