In the face of increasing bacterial resistance to antibiotics currently in use, the search for new antimicrobial agents has received a boost in recent years, with natural products playing an important role in this field. In fact, several methods have been proposed to investigate the antibacterial activities of natural products. However, given that the ultimate aim is future therapeutic use as n...

The bicyclo[4.3.0]nonane scaffold, commonly known as a hydrindane, is a common structural motif found in many terpenoid structures and one that remains a challenge for synthetic chemists to elaborate with appropriate regio- and stereo-selectivity. Over the course of the study of terpene natural products, the elaboration of the hydrindane structure has seen progress on the utilization of both ol...

The first total syntheses of the proposed structure of cycloinumakiol (1) and its C5 epimer (18) are achieved in a concise and efficient fashion. Starting from the known 3-hydroxybenzocyclobutenone, 1 and 18 are obtained in nine and five steps with overall yields of 15% and 33%, respectively. The key for the success of this approach is the use of a catalytic C-C activation strategy for construc...

This feature article gives an overview of iterative synthetic methods for the construction of deoxypropionates, an important class of polyketides. The catalytic and non-catalytic methodologies discussed are based on highly stereoselective reactions which can be carried out in an iterative fashion. Non-catalytic methods are described first, followed by state of the art catalytic iterative protoc...

The tetracyclic core of the integrastatin natural products has been prepared in a convergent and rapid manner. Our strategy relies upon a palladium(II)-catalyzed oxidative cyclization to form the central [3.3.1]-dioxabicycle of the natural product core. Overall, the core has been completed in only 4 linear steps from known compounds.

We report the enantiospecific total synthesis of (+)-tubingensin A. Our synthesis features an aryne cyclization to efficiently introduce the vicinal quaternary stereocenters of the natural product and proceeds in only nine steps (longest linear sequence) from known compounds.

Highly efficient preparations of anticancer β-elemene and other bioactive elemanes were carried out using the natural product germacrone as a renewable starting material. The syntheses were achieved in only 3-5 steps with excellent overall yields (43-54%). An enantioselective approach to these molecules is also described.

The first examples of catalyst-controlled stereoselective macrocyclic ring-closing metathesis reactions that generate Z-enoates as well as (E,Z)- or (Z,E)-dienoates are disclosed. Reactions promoted by 3.0-10 mol % of a Mo-based monoaryloxide pyrrolide complex proceed to completion within 2-6 h at room temperature. The desired macrocycles are formed in 79:21 to >98:2 Z/E selectivity; stereoisom...

We live in a "Demon-Haunted World". Human health care requires the ever increasing resistance of pathogens to be confronted by a correspondingly fast rate of discovery of novel antibiotics. One of the possible strategies towards this objective involves the rational localization of bioactive phytochemicals. The conceptual basis of the method consists in the surprisingly little known gearings of ...