Resumo

LOPEZ L., Lluvia Itzel; LEYVA, Elisa  e  GARCIA DE LA CRUZ, Ramón Fernando. Naphthoquinones: more than natural pigments. Rev. mex. cienc. farm [online]. 2011, vol.42, n.1, pp.6-17. ISSN 1870-0195.

The naphthoquinone structure is found in several natural compounds and is associated with diverse biological properties. In most cases, the biological activity of naphthoquinones has been related to their redox and acid-base properties, which can be modulated by directly adding a substituent to the 1,4-naphthoquinone ring. The synthesis of novel derivatives of 1,4-naphthoquinone is of important interest, since these compounds exhibit strong action as antimalarial, antibacterial, antifungical, and anticancer agents. This review presents a recent overview about compounds with a 1,4-naphthoquinone structure isolated from natural or synthetic sources. The reported biological activities and the proposed action mechanisms for these compounds are also described.

Palavras-chave : 1,4-naphthoquinone; antimalarial; antibacterial; antifungical; anticancer agent.