Curr Med Chem. 2003 Nov; 10(21): 2197-230.

An over four millennium story behind qinghaosu (artemisinin)-a fantastic antimalarial drug from a traditional chinese herb.

Li Y, Wu YL.

State Key Laboratory of Bioorganic and Natural Products Chemistry, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 354 FengLin Road, Shanghai 200032, China. ylwu@pub.sioc.ac.cn

This article reviews the discovery and the further studies on qinghaosu and its derivatives or analogs over the last decades in the fields of medicinal chemistry and some pharmacology research, with an emphasis on the progress achieved in China.