Our Phytochemical Research on Parthenium hysterophorous

Abstract

Parthenium hysterophorus (Compositae), an obnoxious weed, was investigated thoroughly for its chemical constituents. We isolated a large number of pseudoguaianolides and other compounds. Many of the isolates are new natural products. Parthenin, the major pseudoguaianolide, was synthetically converted to its various analogues. Some of the constituents of the plant and of the prepared analogues were found to possess significant antibacterial and anticancer properties. Here, we review our phytochemical research on Parthenium hysterophorus informing of our work on the isolation, structure elucidation, synthetic modifications, and bioevaluation of its chemical constituents.