The Diversity of Natural Organochlorines in Living Organisms

Abstract

Of the more than 2,600 known naturally occurring organohalogen compounds, more than 1,500 contain chlorine. These organochlorines, which range in structural intricacy from the ubiquitous fungal and plant metabolite chloromethane to the complex life-saving antibiotic vancomycin, are produced by marine and terrestrial plants, bacteria, fungi, lichens, insects, marine animals (sponges, sea hares, nudibranchs, gorgonians, tunicates), some higher animals, and a few mammals. New examples are continually being discovered and the total number of natural organohalogens may surpass 3,000 by the turn of the century.