The molecule malabaricane and its derivatives, the malabaricanes, are triterpene and triterpenoid compounds found in various organisms.

[1] They are named after the rain forest tree Ailanthus malabarica (Ailanthus triphysa), from which they were first isolated in 1967 by scientists at the National Chemical Laboratory in Pune, India.

[2] Later, great varieties of malabaricanes were discovered in other organisms, mostly in marine sponges such as Rhabdastrella globostellata.

[3][4] Isomalabaricanes are malabaricanes in which the three carbon rings of the molecule are connected in trans−syn−trans conformation, as opposed to other malabaricanes, where the rings are connected in trans−anti−trans conformation.

They are of particular research interest because many of them have been reported to show anti-tumour activity in cell culture.