2-Ketobutyric acid is a product of the lysis of cystathionine. It is also one of the degradation products of threonine. It can be converted into propionyl-CoA and thus enter the citric acid cycle.

hSMG-1 inhibitor 11e is a potent and selective hSMG-1 kinase inhibitor with an IC50 of 900-fold selectivity over mTOR (IC50 of 45 nM), PI3Kα/γ (IC50s of 61 nM and 92 nM) and CDK1/CDK2 (IC50s of 32 μM and 7.1 μM).

3'-O-Methylorobol exhibits moderate antioxidant activity in the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl free radical scavenging assay, it also exerts potential analgesic properties.