Total synthesis and structural revision of lucentamycin A

Bioinspired Palladium-Catalyzed Intramolecular C(sp3 )-H Activation for the Collective Synthesis of Proline Natural Products

Bioinspired palladium-catalyzed intramolecular cyclization of amino acid derivatives containing a vinyl iodide moiety by C-H activation enabled rapid access to a wide range of functionalized proline derivatives with an exocyclic olefin. To demonstrate the practicality of this methodology, the functionalized prolines were used as intermediates for the synthesis of several natural products: lucentamycin A, oxotomaymycin, oxoprothracarcin, and barmumycin.

Pitfalls in the structural elucidation of small molecules. A critical analysis of a decade of structural misassignments of marine natural products

Covering: July 2010 to August 2021This article summarizes more than 200 cases of misassigned marine natural products reported between July 2010 and August 2021, sorting out errors according to the structural elements. Based on a comparative analysis of the original and the revised structures, major pitfalls still plaguing the structural elucidation of small molecules were identified, emphasizing the role of total synthesis, crystallography, as well as chemical- and biosynthetic logic to complement spectroscopic data. Distinct "trends" in natural product misassignment are evident between compounds of marine and plant origin, with an overall much lower incidence of "impossible" structures within misassigned marine natural products.

A look around the West Indies: The spices of life are secondary metabolites

Natural products possess a wide range of bioactivities with potential for therapeutic usage. While the distribution of these molecules can vary greatly there is some correlation that exists between the biodiversity of an environment and the uniqueness and concentration of natural products found in that region or area. The Caribbean and pan-Caribbean area is home to thousands of species of endemic fauna and flora providing huge potential for natural product discovery and by way, potential leads for drug development. This can especially be said for marine natural products as many of are rapidly diluted through diffusion once released and therefore are highly potent to achieve long reaching effects. This review seeks to highlight a small selection of marine natural products from the Caribbean region which possess antiproliferative, anti-inflammatory and antipathogenic properties while highlighting any synthetic efforts towards bioactive analogs.

Highly efficient and enantioselective syntheses of (2S,3R)-3-alkyl- and alkenylglutamates from Fmoc-protected Garner's aldehyde

A 6-step enantioselective synthesis of (2S,3R)-3-alkyl/alkenylglutamates, including the biologically significant amino acid, (2S,3R)-3-methylglutamate, protected for Fmoc SPPS, is reported. Overall yields range from 52-65%. Key to the success of these syntheses was the development of a high-yielding 2-step synthesis of Fmoc Garner's aldehyde followed by a Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons reaction to give the corresponding Fmoc Garner's enoate in a 94% yield. The diastereoselective 1,4-addition of lithium dialkylcuprates to the Fmoc Garner's enoate was explored. Significant decomposition occurred when using lithium diethylcuprate and conditions previously reported for the 1,4-addition of lithium dialkylcuprates to Boc or Cbz-protected Garner's enoate. An optimization study of this reaction resulted in a robust set of conditions that addressed the shortcomings of previously reported conditions. Under these conditions, highly diastereoselective (> 20:1 in most cases) 1,4-addition reactions of lithium dialkyl/dialkenylcuprates to the Fmoc Garner's enoate were achieved in 76-99% yield. The resulting 1,4-addition products were easily converted into the Fmoc-(2S,3R)-3-alkyl/alkenylglutamates in two steps.

15-Hydroxygermacranolides as Sources of Structural Diversity: Synthesis of Sesquiterpene Lactones by Cyclization and Rearrangement Reactions. Experimental and DFT Study

A study on the electrophile-induced rearrangement of two 15-hydroxygermacranolides, salonitenolide and artemisiifolin, was carried out. These compounds underwent electrophilic intramolecular cyclizations or acid-mediated rearrangements to give sesquiterpene lactones with different skeletons such as eudesmanolides, guaianolides, amorphanolides, or other germacranolides. The cyclization that gives guaianolides can be considered a biomimetic route to this type of sesquiterpene lactones. The use of acetone as a solvent changes the reactivity of the two starting germacranolides to the acid catalysts, with a 4,15-diol acetonide being the main product obtained. The δ-amorphenolide obtained by intramolecular cyclization of this acetonide is a valuable intermediate for accessing the antimalarials artemisinin and its derivatives. Mechanistic proposals for the transformations are raised, and to provide support them, quantum chemical calculations [DFT B3LYP/6-31+G(d,p) level] were undertaken.

Marine natural products

This review covers the literature published in 2012 for marine natural products, with 1035 citations (673 for the period January to December 2012) referring to compounds isolated from marine microorganisms and phytoplankton, green, brown and red algae, sponges, cnidarians, bryozoans, molluscs, tunicates, echinoderms, mangroves and other intertidal plants and microorganisms. The emphasis is on new compounds (1241 for 2012), together with the relevant biological activities, source organisms and country of origin. Biosynthetic studies, first syntheses, and syntheses that lead to the revision of structures or stereochemistries, have been included.

Garner's aldehyde as a versatile intermediate in the synthesis of enantiopure natural products

Since its introduction to the synthetic community in 1984, Garner's aldehyde has gained substantial attention as a chiral intermediate for the synthesis of numerous amino alcohol derivatives. This review presents some of the most successful carbon chain elongation reactions, namely carbonyl alkylations and olefinations. The literature is reviewed with particular attention on understanding how to avoid the deleterious epimerization of the existing stereocenter in Garner's aldehyde.