Cembranoids, 14-membered carbocyclic diterpenes composed of four isoprene units, are mainly found in plants of the Nicotiana and Pinus genera, as well as in soft coral and other marine organisms. We summarise the chemical structures of the eighty-seven naturally occurring tobacco cembranoids (1–52), nor-cembranoids (53–74), seco-cembranoids (75–82) and cyclised cembranoids (83–87) reported to date. The most prevalent cembranoids in tobacco are (1S,2E,4S,7E,11E)-cembra-2,7,11-triene-4,6-diol (1) and (1S,2E,4R,7E,11E)-cembra-2,7,11-triene-4,6-diol (2), which are biosynthesised in the plastid from the reactions of geranylgeranyl diphosphate with cembrantrien-ol synthase and cytochrome P450 hydroxylase via the 2-C-methyl-D-erythritol-4-phosphate metabolic pathway. The accumulation of cembranoids in tobacco is affected by genetic and environmental factors, including fertiliser, water and light exposure, soil-type and temperature. Tobacco-derived cembranoids are known to display antifungal, antibacterial, anti-human immunodeficiency virus, anti-tumour and neuroprotective properties. A large number of biologically active (primarily anti-invasive, anti-proliferative, anti-migratory and neuroprotective) compounds have been prepared from the semisynthesis of tobacco cembranoids, many via biocatalytic methods. The documented bioactivities of tobacco cembranoids make them excellent templates for the future development of drugs to treat cancer, AIDS, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, stroke and other neurodegenerative diseases. These findings indicated that although tobacco has long been associated with negative effects on human health, it may ultimately be able to play a therapeutic role.

大麻素是由四个异戊二烯单元组成的14元碳环二萜，主要存在于烟草和松属植物以及软珊瑚和其他海洋生物中。我们总结了迄今报道的八十七种天然烟草烟叶类化合物（1-52个），非烟叶类化合物（53-74个），癸香类纤维素类化合物（75-82个）和环化的大麻素类（83-87个）的化学结构。烟草中最常见的骨是（1S，2E，4S，7E，11E）-cembra-2,7,11-三烯-4,6-二醇（1）和（1S，2E，4R，7E，11E）- cembra-2,7,11-三烯-4,6-二醇（2），它们是通过2-C-甲基-D-赤藓糖醇-4-磷酸代谢途径从香叶基香叶基二磷酸香叶酯与头孢三烯醇合酶和细胞色素P450羟化酶的反应中生物合成的。烟草中骨的积累受遗传和环境因素的影响，包括肥料，水和光照，土壤类型和温度。已知烟草来源的类胡萝卜素具有抗真菌，抗菌，抗人免疫缺陷病毒，抗肿瘤和神经保护作用。从烟草类骨的半合成中已经制备了许多具有生物活性（主要是抗侵入，抗增殖，抗迁移和神经保护）的化合物，其中许多都是通过生物催化方法。记录的烟草类ran骨生物活性使其成为治疗癌症，艾滋病，阿尔茨海默氏病，帕金森氏病，中风和其他神经退行性疾病的药物未来发展的极佳模板。这些发现表明，尽管烟草长期以来一直对人类健康产生负面影响，但它最终可能会发挥治疗作用。