Naphthoquinone-derived polyol macrolides from natural sources.

New biologically active substances isolated from natural sources provide valuable information on structural motifs that are important for a specific type of activity and can also be used as drugs or serve as raw materials for chemical modification in order to develop new pharmaceuticals. This review considers natural antibiotics combining two pharmacophores in their structure: a redox-active naphthoquinone moiety and a membrane-active polyol macrolide. Data on their structures and the spectrum of biological activity are summarized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]