7 Marine natural products
Abstract
This review covers the literature on marine natural products published in 2003. Methods of isolation and structure elucidation continue to improve with the result that the number of new marine natural products increases each year. This review covers a small part of the literature to highlight some of the diverse structural types and associated biological activities. Marine sponges are the source of the largest number of new natural products this year, however the large range of metabolites available from cultured marine microorganisms is of growing interest. This review is organised similarly to the last one with the natural products grouped loosely under their biogenetic origins of polyketides, terpenoids and alkaloids and peptides.