Bibenzyls and bisbybenzyls of bryophytic origin as promising source of novel therapeutics: pharmacology, synthesis and structure-activity

Abstract Background: The amphibian, non-vascular, gametophyte-dominant, bio-indicator class, bryophytes; with their wide ranges of habitat have attained importance due to their promising medicinal attributions and therapeutic role; mostly aided by presence of aromatic bibenzyl and bisbybenzyl class of compounds. Bibenzyls are steroidal ethane derivatives, resembling the structural moiety of bioactive dihydro-stilbenoids or iso-quinoline alkaloids. These stress triggered secondary metabolites are the by-products of the flavonoid biosynthetic pathway. Different classes of bryophytes (Bryophyta, Marchantiophyta and Anthocerotophyta) possess different subtypes of bibenzyls