The first contribution reviews the phytochemical, chemical,
and biological literature on members of the ingenane class of diterpenoids from
their first isolation in 1968 through 2015, highlighting unresolved issues both
common to phorboids and specific to ingenol derivatives. The biogenesis of ingenol is discussed in the
light of the Jakupovic proposal of a dissection between the formation of the macrocyclic
Euphorbia diterpenoids and the phorboids,
and the clinical development of ingenol mebutate is chronicled in the light of
its “reverse-pharmacology” focus.
The second contribution
offers a comprehensive view of the chemical wealth and the taxonomic problems
currently impeding chemical and biological investigations of the genus Laurencia. It addresses the botanical description and the growth and
population dynamics of the genus, as well as its chemical diversity and ecological
relations; the secondary metabolites as well as their sources of isolation; and finally the biological activity.