Antimicrobial Diterpene from the Brazilian Termite Nasutitermes macrocephalus (Isoptera: Termitidae: Natutitermitinae)

Termites are insects with a complex social organization on castes among which soldiers are the only responsible for the colony defense. The soldiers of the Nasutitermes genus use chemical defense, which comprises a mixture of mono, sesqui and mainly diterpenes. The new diterpene 2b,3a-dihydroxy-trinervita-1(15),11-diene, found in Nasutitermes macrocephalus, was isolated using preparative high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques. The absolute stereochemistry determined was support...