Rutaecarpine is an indolopyridoquinazolinone alkaloid isolated from Evodiarutaecarpa and related herbs, which has shown a variety of intriguing biological propertiessuch as anti-thrombotic, anticancer, anti-inflammatory and analgesic, anti-obesity andthermoregulatory, vasorelaxing activity, as well as effects on the cardiovascular andendocrine systems. Recent progress in the studies on the isolation, synthesis, structureactivityrelationship studies, biological activities and metabolism of rutaecarpine arereviewed.

Rutaecarpine is a pentacyclic indolopyridoquinazolinone alkaloid found in Evodia rutaecarpa and other related herbs. It has a variety of intriguing biological properties, which continue to attract the academic and industrial interest. Studies on rutaecarpine have included isolation from new natural sources, development of new synthetic methods for its total synthesis, the discovery of new biological activities, metabolism, toxicology, and establishment of analytical methods for determining rutaecarpine content. The present review focuses on the synthesis, biological activities, and structure-activity relationships of rutaecarpine derivatives, with respect to their antiplatelet, vasodilatory, cytotoxic, and anticholinesterase activities.

One-pot synthesis of various 2,3-polymethylene-4(3H)-quinazolinones from anthranilic acid, corresponding lactam and SOCl2 is described, which can be applicable to the synthesis of simple 4(3H)-quinazolinone-derived alkaloids, such as luotonin A, tryptanthrin, and rutaecarpine.

Diarylheptanoids are a family of plant secondary metabolites with a 7 carbon skeleton possessing two phenyl rings at the 1- and 7-positions. They can be subdivided into acyclic and cyclic diarylheptanoids where the latter are further divided into meta,meta-bridged biphenyls ([7.0]metacyclophanes) and meta,para-bridged diphenyl ether heptanoids (oxa[7.1]metapara-cyclophanes). Since the isolation of curcumin from the rhizomes of turmeric (Curcuma longa) in 1815 which was named curcumin, a variety of diarylheptanoids have been isolated from a number of plant families such as Aceraceae, Actinidiaceae, Betulaceae, Burseraceae, Casuarinaceae, Juglandaceae, Leguminosae, Myricaceae, and Zingiberaceae. Earlier studies on these diarylheptanoids have been summarized on several occasions, of which the main themes only focus on isolation, structure elucidation, and the biological properties of linear types. Only a few have covered cyclic diarylheptanoids and their chemical synthesis has been covered lastly by Zhu et al. in 2000. The present paper has, therefore, covered recent progress in cyclic diarylheptanoids focusing on the isolation, structural and biological features, and chemical synthesis.