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In this perspective, we showcase the benefits of continuous flow chemistry and photochemistry and how these valuable tools have contributed to the synthesis of organic scaffolds from the marine environment. These technologies have not only facilitated previously described synthetic pathways, but also opened new opportunities in the preparation of novel organic molecules with remarkable pharmacological properties which can be used in drug discovery programs.

Heterocycles are particularly common moieties within marine natural products. Specifically, tetrahydrofuranyl rings are present in a variety of compounds which present complex structures and interesting biological activities. Focusing on terpenoids, a high number of tetrahydrofuran-containing metabolites have been isolated during the last decades. They show promising biological activities, making them potential leads for novel antibiotics, antikinetoplastid drugs, amoebicidal substances, or anticancer drugs. Thus, they have attracted the attention of the synthetics community and numerous approaches to their total syntheses have appeared. Here, we offer the reader an overview of marine-derived terpenoids and related compounds, their isolation, structure determination, and a special focus on their total syntheses and biological profiles.

Oxygen heterocycles are units that are abundant in a great number of marine natural products. Among them, marine polyketides containing tetrahydrofuran rings have attracted great attention within the scientific community due to their challenging structures and promising biological activities. An overview of the most important marine tetrahydrofuran polyketides, with a focused discussion on their isolation, structure determination, approaches to their total synthesis, and biological studies is provided.

Intracellular Ca2+ plays a pivotal role in the control of a large series of cell functions in all types of cells, from neurotransmitter release and muscle contraction to gene expression, cell proliferation and cell death. Ca2+ is transported through specific channels and transporters in the plasma membrane and subcellular organelles such as the endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria. Therefore, dysregulation of intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis may lead to cell dysfunction and disease. Accordingly, chemical compounds from natural origin and/or synthesis targeting directly or indirectly these channels and proteins may be of interest for the treatment of cell dysfunction and disease. In this review, we show an overview of a group of marine drugs that, from the structural point of view, contain one or various heterocyclic units in their core structure, and from the biological side, they have a direct influence on the transport of calcium in the cell. The marine compounds covered in this review are divided into three groups, which correspond with their direct biological activity, such as compounds with a direct influence in the calcium channel, compounds with a direct effect on the cytoskeleton and drugs with an effect on cancer cell proliferation. For each target, we describe its bioactive properties and synthetic approaches. The wide variety of chemical structures compiled in this review and their significant medical properties may attract the attention of many different researchers.