natural products.

Throughout history, natural products have consistently proven to be invaluable sources of solutions for humanity, particularly regarding the development of treatments for diseases. If only small molecules are taken into consideration, almost half of the approved anti-cancer drugs since mid-last century are either natural products or compounds related to them in some way. Among the natural products that have gained increasing interest in recent decades are cannabinoids and related meroterpenoids. 

This study presents a methodology for bioactivity-guided fractionation of chemically modified Ambrosia tenuifolia extracts using mild derivatization conditions at room temperature. New trypanocidal compounds less toxic than the starting materials were obtained in a single reaction step. In addition, bioinformatics tools were used to identify potential biological targets for Trypanosoma cruzi, reducing the need for extensive biological testing.