The compound has been derived from the medicinal plant Koduveli.

The College of Engineering Thiruvananthapuram (CET) has bagged a patent for inventing a pharmaceutical agent that is expected to have immense potential in cancer treatment.

The newly synthesised compound, 3-([4-Chloro-3(Trifluoromethyl) Phenyl] Amino)-5-Hydroxy-2-Methyl-1,4-Dihydronapthalene-1,4-Dione, was the result of the five-year long research jointly undertaken by Shyni P. Laila and Arunkumar B.

The researchers were guided by Annette Fernandez, the former head of the Department of Chemistry at CET who had retired as Principal of the Government College of Arts and Science, Pathirippala, in Palakkad few years ago.

They pointed out the pharmaceutical agent is a fluoro derivative (a derivate compound obtained by reaction with a fluoro-compound) which was derived by structural modification of a hydroxyquinone, Plumbagin, that was isolated from the roots of Plumbago zeylanica, a medicinal plant known as Koduveli in local parlance.

source/content: thehindu.com (edited)