{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,13]],"date-time":"2026-07-13T04:37:27Z","timestamp":1783917447579,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,1]],"date-time":"2025-05-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1746057600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"omic station and Food Chemistry and Biochemistry Unit, Department of Chemistry and Industry, Faculty of Science and Technology, at the University of Kinshasa","award":["001-DMN-2024"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["001-DMN-2024"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Phytochemical investigation and bioactivity evaluation of terpenoids from the Croton species were conducted. The chemical composition of C. sylvaticus was explored using chemical phytochemical screening techniques and dereplication of 13C NMR data using MixONat software (v. 1.0.1). Natural products with diverse structural features were identified in the dichloromethane extract of trunk bark. These include monoterpenoids, sesquiterpenoids, diterpenoids, triterpenoids, along with other minor metabolites, such as steroids, saponins, and fatty acids. Further purification of this extract led to the isolation of three major secondary metabolites, acetyl aleuritolic acid, caryophyllene oxide, and phytol. These secondary metabolites were reported for the first time in C. sylvaticus. The isolated compounds were structurally compared to known anticancer terpenoids previously identified in two other Congolese Croton species. Through molecular docking studies, the predicted binding affinities of the identified compounds were assessed, and possible structure\u2013activity relationships (SAR) were proposed. Two structurally characterized receptors\u2014the human androgen receptor (HAR, PDB ID: 1E3G) and hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha (HIF-1\u03b1, PDB ID: 3KCX), known for their involvement in cancer-related pathways, were used for molecular docking investigations. Among the tested compounds, 1, 2, 3, and 12 were identified as having strong-to-moderate predicted binding affinities to both protein targets, along with favorable drug-like properties according to the ADMET analysis. This investigation could justify the use of Croton plants in traditional medicine. In addition, our study highlights the potential of the Congolese Croton species as sources of bioactive secondary metabolites.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms26094305","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,1]],"date-time":"2025-05-01T09:16:12Z","timestamp":1746090972000},"page":"4305","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Rapid Dereplication of Trunk Bark Constituents of Croton sylvaticus and Molecular Docking of Terpenoids from Three Congolese Croton Species"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"26","author":[{"given":"Bienvenu Kamalandua","family":"Mvingu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Mention Chimie et Industrie, Facult\u00e9 des Sciences et Technologies, Universit\u00e9 de Kinshasa, Kin XI, Kinshasa P.O. Box 190, Democratic Republic of the Congo"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tienabe","family":"Nsiama","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Mention Chimie et Industrie, Facult\u00e9 des Sciences et Technologies, Universit\u00e9 de Kinshasa, Kin XI, Kinshasa P.O. Box 190, Democratic Republic of the Congo"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Obed Nsemi","family":"Kanga","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Mention Chimie et Industrie, Facult\u00e9 des Sciences et Technologies, Universit\u00e9 de Kinshasa, Kin XI, Kinshasa P.O. Box 190, Democratic Republic of the Congo"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kalulu Muzele","family":"Taba","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Mention Chimie et Industrie, Facult\u00e9 des Sciences et Technologies, Universit\u00e9 de Kinshasa, Kin XI, Kinshasa P.O. Box 190, Democratic Republic of the Congo"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0028-8011","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jason Thambwe","family":"Kilembe","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Mention Chimie et Industrie, Facult\u00e9 des Sciences et Technologies, Universit\u00e9 de Kinshasa, Kin XI, Kinshasa P.O. Box 190, Democratic Republic of the Congo"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0009-4464-8013","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jean-No\u00ebl Kanyinda","family":"Mputu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Mention Chimie et Industrie, Facult\u00e9 des Sciences et Technologies, Universit\u00e9 de Kinshasa, Kin XI, Kinshasa P.O. Box 190, Democratic Republic of the Congo"},{"name":"NMR and Molecular Imaging Laboratory, General, Organic and Biomedical Chemistry Unit, University of Mons, 19 Avenue Maistriau, 7000 Mons, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sarah","family":"Garifo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"NMR and Molecular Imaging Laboratory, General, Organic and Biomedical Chemistry Unit, University of Mons, 19 Avenue Maistriau, 7000 Mons, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3280-2441","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"C\u00e9line","family":"Henoumont","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"NMR and Molecular Imaging Laboratory, General, Organic and Biomedical Chemistry Unit, University of Mons, 19 Avenue Maistriau, 7000 Mons, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3433-3834","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dya Fita","family":"Dibwe","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Mention Chimie et Industrie, Facult\u00e9 des Sciences et Technologies, Universit\u00e9 de Kinshasa, Kin XI, Kinshasa P.O. Box 190, Democratic Republic of the Congo"},{"name":"Faculty of Health Sciences, Hokkaido University, Kita-12, Nishi-5, Kita-Ku, Sapporo 060-0812, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Blaise Mavinga","family":"Mbala","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Mention Chimie et Industrie, Facult\u00e9 des Sciences et Technologies, Universit\u00e9 de Kinshasa, Kin XI, Kinshasa P.O. Box 190, Democratic Republic of the Congo"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2589-3250","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sophie","family":"Laurent","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"NMR and Molecular Imaging Laboratory, General, Organic and Biomedical Chemistry Unit, University of Mons, 19 Avenue Maistriau, 7000 Mons, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1520","DOI":"10.3732\/ajb.92.9.1520","article-title":"Molecular phylogenetics of the giant genus Croton and tribe Crotoneae (Euphorbiaceae sensu stricto) using ITS and trnL-trnF DNA sequence data","volume":"92","author":"Paul","year":"2005","journal-title":"Am. J. 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