Structure and Biological Activities of Emodin Derivatives: An Overview

Abstract

Emodin, a common anthraquinone compound, is found in numerous Chinese herbs. Despite emodin's broad biological activities, its clinical use is limited by low efficacy, poor water solubility, and potential hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity. Chemical structural modification is an important strategy to solve molecular properties. More than 386 molecules have been derived from emodin, and most of them were found with improved activities. In the present review, we summarized all the emodin derivatives and their corresponding biological activities with the aim to provide a better understanding of research progress on structural modifications of emodin, as well as beneficial advancements for its further development.