Review A review on cassane and norcassane diterpenes and their pharmacological studies # Ranjani Maurya, Makthala Ravi, Snehlata Singh, Prem P. Yadav ⁎ Medicinal and Process Chemistry Division, CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute, Chattar Manzil Palace, Lucknow-226001, India article info abstract Article history: Received 28 October 2011 Accepted in revised form 30 November 2011 Available online 9 December 2011 The natural Cassane and norcassane diterpenes are biosynthetic rearrangement products of Pimarane precursor in the biosynthetic pathway of diterpenes. Their distribution is highly re- stricted to various genera of Fabaceae family (especially to Caesalpinia genus). A comprehen- sive account of the structural diversity (322 structures, 114 references) is given in this review along with biological activities of cassane and norcassane diterpenes up to September 2011. © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Diterpenes Cassane diterpene Norcassane diterpene Furanoditerpenes Caesalpinia sp. pharmacological activity Contents 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272 2. Occurrence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273 3. Types of cassane diterpenes and their pharmacology activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274 3.1. Tricyclic cassane diterpenes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274 3.2. Tetracyclic cassane diterpenes with fused furan ring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274 3.3. Tetracyclic cassane diterpenes with fused butenolide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276 3.4. Norcassane diterpenes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276 3.5. Quinone methide diterpenes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277 3.6. Cassaine diterpenes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277 3.6.1. Cassaine-type diterpenoid ester amines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277 3.6.2. Cassaine-type diterpenoid amides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277 3.7. Miscellaneous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277 4. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278 Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278 1. Introduction The natural cassane constitute a group of diverse diterpenoid substance which are well-known for their biological activity. The name cassane derived from the native name “Cassa” for Fitoterapia 83 (2012) 272–280 # CDRI Communication No:8166. ⁎ Corresponding author at: Medicinal and Process Chemistry Division, CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow-226001, India. Tel.: + 91 522 2612411 4437; fax: + 91 522 2623405, 2623938. E-mail address: pp_yadav@cdri.res.in (P.P. Yadav). 0367-326X/$ – see front matter © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.fitote.2011.12.007 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Fitoterapia journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/fitote