Bioactive alkenylphenols from Piper obliquum Original Research Article

Various parts of Piper obliquum Ruíz & Pavon yielded the new alkenylphenols obliquol A (1) and obliquol B (2), the new 4-chromanone 3 together with the known compounds 4 and 5. A synthesis of obliquol B (2) was developed in order to confirm its structure and to provide sufficient amounts for biological testing. Compounds 1 and 2 have antibacterial activity comparable to that of ampicillin, 2 in addition possesses potent anti-NF-κB activity by targeting early events in the TNFα-induced NF-κB inflammatory pathway, which may explain the effects reported for the traditional use of the plant.