Chemistry of natural marine products - The pharmacy of the sea
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54495/Rev.Cientifica.v13i1.337Keywords:
chemistry, natural marine products, pharmacy of the seaAbstract
The oceans cover about two-thirds of the Earth's surface, yet the living creatures in it are only 2% of its organic matter. This makes us think of the seas as “great deserts” with coral reefs as their “oases”. Marine life is much richer and more varied in tropical waters and it is the coral reefs that support the great diversity of existing biota. Coral reefs are formed by the efforts of countless polyps and coralline algae, who transform Ca 2+ and HCO/ into the reef structure where life begins to sustain and develop. Two main areas of the globe have coral reefs: the Atlantic region and the Indo-Pacific region. The first from a chemical point of view is centered in the Caribbean, while the second in the great barrier reef of Australia, the islands of the South Pacific and Okinawa in Japan. Marine organisms, especially sessile invertebrates such as soft corals and sponges, the mobile but very weak tunicates, algae and microorganisms, are an immensely rich source of secondary metabolites, with chemical structures so varied and complex that they make them unprecedented for those isolated from terrestrial sources. The pharmacological properties of these secondary metabolites have proven to be much more powerful than their terrestrial counterparts since biological evolution has forced them to create a powerful arsenal of chemical weapons to survive in an environment much more hostile than the terrestrial one and with tough competition.Downloads
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Copyright (c) 2000 Oscar Manuel Cóbar
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