Video Upload Options

Natural product chemistry is the interdisciplinary branch of chemical and biological science concerned with the study of naturally occurring chemical compounds produced by living organisms. Within the context of bioactive natural compounds, it encompasses the isolation of metabolites from biological sources; determination of their molecular structures, stereochemistry, and chemical properties; investigation of their biosynthetic origins; and characterization of their chemical and biological relationships ^[1][2]. Its principal subject matter includes specialized metabolites—also termed secondary metabolites—whose structures are assembled from primary metabolic precursors through biosynthetic pathways. Major natural-product classes include alkaloids, terpenoids, polyketides, non-ribosomal peptides, ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides, and structurally modified lipids ^[2][3]. Natural product chemistry is distinguished from synthetic organic chemistry by its focus on compounds of biological origin and from natural-product biosynthesis by its broader inclusion of isolation, structural elucidation, chemical characterization, and structure–activity analysis. Although chemical synthesis, spectroscopy, chromatography, genomics, and enzymology may be used within the discipline, these are methodological components rather than the defining subject of the field ^[1][2][3].