Bismuth(III) triflate: an economical and environmentally friendly catalyst for the Nazarov reaction

• Manoel T. Rodrigues Jr.,
• Aline S. B. de Oliveira,
• Ralph C. Gomes,
• Amanda Soares Hirata,
• Lucas A. Zeoly,
• Hugo Santos,
• João Arantes,
• Catarina Sofia Mateus Reis-Silva,
• João Agostinho Machado-Neto,
• Leticia Veras Costa-Lotufo and
• Fernando Coelho

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1167–1178, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.99

• ; indanones; Nazarov reaction; Introduction Natural products are the source of inspiration for several research groups that develop new synthetic methodologies. The chemistry of five-membered rings plays an important role in organic chemistry, both because of the wide occurrence in nature [1][2][3][4][5][6

• found in a series of natural products and synthetic molecules with different biological activities [11][80][81]. In particular, 1-indanones substituted in position 3 are important synthons for some drugs and natural products [82][83][84]. A bibliographic survey revealed that some methods were developed

A Diels–Alder probe for discovery of natural products containing furan moieties

• Alyssa S. Eggly,
• Namuunzul Otgontseren,
• Carson B. Roberts,
• Amir Y. Alwali,
• Haylie E. Hennigan and
• Elizabeth I. Parkinson

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1001–1010, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.88

• , Indiana 47906, United States 10.3762/bjoc.20.88 Abstract Natural products (NPs) are fantastic sources of inspiration for novel pharmaceuticals, oftentimes showing unique bioactivity against interesting targets. Specifically, NPs containing furan moieties show activity against a variety of diseases

• products, methylenomycin furan (MMF) hormones, and MMF derivatives. Moreover, the molecular probe has been tested in crude supernatants of various Streptomyces strains and enables identification of MMFs. Keywords: Diels–Alder reaction; furans; methylenomycin furan hormones; natural products; reactivity

• -based probes; Introduction To date, natural products and their derivatives have served as the foundation of many pharmaceuticals used today. These compounds have activity against various diseases such as cancer, bacterial infections, and fungal infections, as well as other indications [1]. Specifically

Enhancing structural diversity of terpenoids by multisubstrate terpene synthases

• Min Li and
• Hui Tao

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 959–972, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.86

• TaiKang Center for Life and Medical Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430071, China 10.3762/bjoc.20.86 Abstract Terpenoids are one of the largest class of natural products with diverse structures and activities. This enormous diversity is embedded in enzymes called terpene synthases (TSs), which

• multisubstrate terpene synthases (MSTSs) and highlight their potential applications. Keywords: noncanonical terpene; substrate promiscuity; synthetic biology; terpene synthase; terpenoid; Introduction Terpenoids constitute the largest class of natural products with more than 80000 known structures [1] and a

• noncanonical prenyl substrates Most of the terpene biosynthesis is well defined by the ‘isoprene rule’ to form natural products by the polymerization of C5 isoprene. Although terpenes with irregular carbon atoms (C6, C7, C11, C12, C16, and C17) have been characterized, they are thought to be synthesized by

Enantioselective synthesis of β-aryl-γ-lactam derivatives via Heck–Matsuda desymmetrization of N-protected 2,5-dihydro-1H-pyrroles

• Arnaldo G. de Oliveira Jr.,
• Martí F. Wang,
• Rafaela C. Carmona,
• Danilo M. Lustosa,
• Sergei A. Gorbatov and
• Carlos R. D. Correia

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 940–949, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.84

• -lactam ring is a privileged scaffold widely present in drugs and natural products [12][13][14], as shown in Scheme 1. Herein, we report the effective desymmetrization strategy of N-protected 2,5-dihydro-1H-pyrroles using aryldiazonium salts and the chiral N,N-ligand (S)-PyraBox (Scheme 2). The obtained

One-pot Ugi-azide and Heck reactions for the synthesis of heterocyclic systems containing tetrazole and 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline

• Jiawei Niu,
• Yuhui Wang,
• Shenghu Yan,
• Yue Zhang,
• Xiaoming Ma,
• Qiang Zhang and
• Wei Zhang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 912–920, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.81

• can be found in natural products and synthetic compounds with antitumor, anti-HIV, antibiotic, antifungal, antivirus, and anti-inflammatory activities [18][19][20][21]. The antischistosomal drug praziquantel (PZQ), a tetrahydroisoquinoline derivative, is a commercialized drug for the treatment of

Three-component N-alkenylation of azoles with alkynes and iodine(III) electrophile: synthesis of multisubstituted N-vinylazoles

• Jun Kikuchi,
• Roi Nakajima and
• Naohiko Yoshikai

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 891–897, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.79

• natural products and pharmaceutical agents, including antifungal drugs [1][2][3], and hence their selective preparation has attracted considerable attention from the synthetic community. Compared to methods for the de novo construction of azole heterocycles, direct functionalization of the azole N–H bond

Confirmation of the stereochemistry of spiroviolene

• Yao Kong,
• Yuanning Liu,
• Kaibiao Wang,
• Tao Wang,
• Chen Wang,
• Ben Ai,
• Hongli Jia,
• Guohui Pan,
• Min Yin and
• Zhengren Xu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 852–858, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.77

• cyclization mechanism of spiroviolene. Keywords: boron migration; diterpene; spiroviolene; stereochemistry; Introduction Terpenes represent one of the most fascinating families of natural products due to their structural complexity and diversity, as well as their indispensable biological functions that

• ancestors of SvS generated by ancestral sequence reconstruction [8][9]. Related natural products with the same 5-5-5-5 tetracyclic ring system, including spirograterpene A (2) from Penicillium granulatum MCCC 3A00475 [10], and GJ1012A (3) from an engineered E. coli strain harboring FgGS (FgJ07623) cloned

• IM-7. A key 1,3-hydride shift of IM-7 from the β-face, followed by deprotonation of the formed C2-cation IM-8, would deliver the originally proposed structure 1' [6]. However, no related natural products that would be derived from the intermediates of this pathway have been found so far. A third

Activity assays of NnlA homologs suggest the natural product N-nitroglycine is degraded by diverse bacteria

• Kara A. Strickland,
• Brenda Martinez Rodriguez,
• Ashley A. Holland,
• Shelby Wagner,
• Michelle Luna-Alva,
• David E. Graham and
• Jonathan D. Caranto

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 830–840, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.75

• protect bacteria from exposure to NNG. Keywords: enzymology; natural products; nitramine; N–N bond; Introduction Degradation of nitramines (R–N(R′)NO2; R′ = H or alkyl) has been well studied in the context of the environmental degradation of explosive cyclic nitramines [1][2]. The cyclic nitramines

• , the physiological function of its substrate NNG. This compound is one of the few known nitramine natural products and the only one produced by bacteria instead of fungi [22]. Its only known natural sources are strains of Streptomyces bacteria [23][24]. The abundance and distribution of these NNG

• and kinetic experiments or crystallization of the active homodimer will be required to resolve the catalytic mechanism. If NnlA is specific for NNG as suggested by these results, it is worth speculating about potential functions of NNG and other nitramine natural products. Bacterial natural products

Discovery and biosynthesis of bacterial drimane-type sesquiterpenoids from Streptomyces clavuligerus

• Dongxu Zhang,
• Wenyu Du,
• Xingming Pan,
• Xiaoxu Lin,
• Fang-Ru Li,
• Qingling Wang,
• Qian Yang,
• Hui-Min Xu and
• Liao-Bin Dong

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 815–822, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.73

• Terpenoids, encompassing over 11,000 compounds (http://dnp.chemnbase.com), are the most diverse group of natural products found in nature [1]. All terpenoids are biosynthesized from C5 carbon units, which are sourced from the isoprenoid building blocks isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP) and dimethylallyl

• significant in industrial applications, renowned for its production of diverse natural products with chemical structures and bioactivities, such as cephamycin C, clavulanic acid, and isopenicillin N [22][23][24]. Genomic sequencing of S. clavuligerus has revealed 48 potential secondary metabolite BGCs, and

• of CavA. (a) The chemical structures of eight natural products that were used for feeding experiments. (b) The three hydroxylated products generated from feeding experiments. (c) HPLC analysis of metabolites from S. avermitilis SUKA22 strain DL10089 cultured in XTM medium with albicanol (5) and drim

Methodology for awakening the potential secondary metabolic capacity in actinomycetes

• Shun Saito and
• Midori A. Arai

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 753–766, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.69

• genes; Introduction Research clearly indicates that compounds derived from natural products have contributed greatly to enhancing the welfare of human society. For example, the structures of compounds produced by microorganisms are very diverse, facilitating their application in the development of

• groups, using a ribosome engineering approach in Streptomyces sp. CB02009 (Figure 2d) [48]. Seyedsayamdost et al. developed the high-throughput elicitor screening (HiTES) approach, a forward chemical genetics method that identifies small-molecule inducers of silent natural products (Figure 2e) [49]. Han

• et al. applied a fluorescence-based DNA cleavage assay coupled with HiTES to Streptomyces clavuligerus and identified the steroid 11α-hydroxyprogesterone (14) as an effective elicitor and characterized 10 cryptic enediyne-derived natural products, designated clavulynes A (15) and B–J with unusual

Research progress on the pharmacological activity, biosynthetic pathways, and biosynthesis of crocins

• Zhongwei Hua,
• Nan Liu and
• Xiaohui Yan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 741–752, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.68

• , aiming to lay the foundation for the large-scale production of these valuable natural products by using engineered microbial cell factories. Keywords: biosynthetic pathway; crocetin; crocins; metabolic engineering; pharmacological activity; Introduction Crocins are hydrophilic apocarotenoids mainly

• , which complicates matching supply to demand. Engineering microbial strains for the heterologous production of rare natural products has emerged as a promising approach [18][19]. With the elucidation of the biosynthetic pathways for crocins in plants, the heterologous production of crocin and crocetin

• natural products, and their biosynthetic pathways have been extensively studied. The construction of efficient hosts for the heterologous production of crocins will be a practical solution for the industrial production of these important chemicals. Principal structure of crocin and crocetin derivatives

Substrate specificity of a ketosynthase domain involved in bacillaene biosynthesis

• Zhiyong Yin and
• Jeroen S. Dickschat

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 734–740, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.67

• are a large class of natural products which often exhibit potent biological activities for their application in medicine, e.g., as antibiotics or immunosuppressants [1]. Despite their high structural variability all compounds from this class are commonly made through the action of polyketide synthases

Chemoenzymatic synthesis of macrocyclic peptides and polyketides via thioesterase-catalyzed macrocyclization

• Senze Qiao,
• Zhongyu Cheng and
• Fuzhuo Li

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 721–733, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.66

• .20.66 Abstract Chemoenzymatic strategies that combine synthetic and enzymatic transformations offer efficient approaches to yield target molecules, which have been increasingly employed in the synthesis of bioactive natural products. In the biosynthesis of macrocyclic nonribosomal peptides, polyketides

• for these natural products that aim to address the common issues in classical synthetic approaches and increase synthetic efficiencies, which have the potential to facilitate further pharmaceutical research. Keywords: biosynthesis; chemoenzymatic synthesis; macrocyclic peptides; macrocyclic

• polyketides; thioesterase; Introduction Nonribosomal peptides, polyketides, and their hybrids exhibit significant diversity and a broad spectrum of bioactivities [1][2][3]. Particularly, macrocycles from these three categories of natural products are vital resources for developing pharmaceuticals and drug

Genome mining of labdane-related diterpenoids: Discovery of the two-enzyme pathway leading to (−)-sandaracopimaradiene in the fungus Arthrinium sacchari

• Fumito Sato,
• Terutaka Sonohara,
• Shunta Fujiki,
• Akihiro Sugawara,
• Yohei Morishita,
• Taro Ozaki and
• Teigo Asai

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 714–720, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.65

• underexplored family of natural products. In the biosynthesis of fungal LRDs, bifunctional terpene cyclases (TCs) consisting of αβγ domains are generally used to synthesize the polycyclic skeletones of LRDs. Herein, we conducted genome mining of LRDs in our fungal genome database and identified a unique pair of

• of TCs in fungi. Keywords: diterpenoids; fungi; genome mining; labdane; terpene cyclase; Introduction Terpenoids are a structurally diverse family of natural products, including more than 80,000 compounds [1]. In the biosynthesis of terpenoids, terpene cyclases (TCs) add structural diversity and

• TCs subsequently catalyze the second cyclization to construct the polycyclic scaffold of natural products [5]. In plants, two independent αβγ tri-domain TCs, ent-CPP synthase (CPS) and ent-kaurene synthase (KS), are often used for this conversion [6], and a single bifunctional enzyme that successively

New variochelins from soil-isolated Variovorax sp. H002

• Jabal Rahmat Haedar,
• Aya Yoshimura and
• Toshiyuki Wakimoto

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 692–700, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.63

• iron cycle within the rhizosphere. This study focused on exploring the natural products of the soil-isolated Variovorax sp. H002, leading to the isolation of variochelins A–E (1–5), a series of lipohexapeptide siderophores. NMR and MS/MS analyses revealed that these siderophores share a common core

Palladium-catalyzed three-component radical-polar crossover carboamination of 1,3-dienes or allenes with diazo esters and amines

• Geng-Xin Liu,
• Xiao-Ting Jie,
• Ge-Jun Niu,
• Li-Sheng Yang,
• Xing-Lin Li,
• Jian Luo and
• Wen-Hao Hu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 661–671, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.59

• owing to their wide applications in medicinal chemistry [1][2][3][4][5]. γ- and ε-AA derivatives are widely distributed in peptide natural products, bioactive molecules, and drugs, such as pregabalin, baclofen, ε-aminocaproic acid and lysine (Scheme 1a) [6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. The number of reported

Isolation and structure determination of a new analog of polycavernosides from marine Okeania sp. cyanobacterium

• Kairi Umeda,
• Naoaki Kurisawa,
• Ghulam Jeelani,
• Tomoyoshi Nozaki,
• Kiyotake Suenaga and
• Arihiro Iwasaki

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 645–652, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.57

• polycavernosides. Keywords: macrolide glycoside; marine cyanobacterium; marine natural products; polycavernosides; terminal alkyne; Introduction In 1991, an outbreak of food poisoning caused by a species of red algae known as ‘Polycavernosa tsudai’ occurred in Guam, which resulted in killing of three people. Two

Production of non-natural 5-methylorsellinate-derived meroterpenoids in Aspergillus oryzae

• Jia Tang,
• Yixiang Zhang and
• Yudai Matsuda

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 638–644, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.56

• , demonstrating the effectiveness of our approach in the generation of structural analogues of meroterpenoids. Keywords: biosynthesis; meroterpenoids; natural products; pathway engineering; terpene cyclases; Introduction Meroterpenoids are a class of natural products partially biosynthesized from a terpenoid

• of “unnatural” natural products by rationally combining the biosynthesis of DMOA- and 5-MOA-derived meroterpenoids. To the best of our knowledge, our study provides the first examples in which meroterpenoid species are generated via the direct dearomatizing prenylation of 5-MOA. Despite its

• simplicity, this strategy yielded six previously unreported meroterpenoids, demonstrating the effectiveness of our methodology in discovering new natural products. Given the increasing elucidation of fungal meroterpenoid pathways in recent years, similar approaches could be applied to other meroterpenoid

Chemical and biosynthetic potential of Penicillium shentong XL-F41

• Ran Zou,
• Xin Li,
• Xiaochen Chen,
• Yue-Wei Guo and
• Baofu Xu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 597–606, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.52

• terpene alkaloid; natural products; Penicillium; structure elucidation; Introduction Penicillium, a genus within the Ascomycota phylum, is a type of critical saprophytic fungus with over 400 strains identified in diverse environments such as mountains, oceans, and the human gut [1]. After the first

A myo-inositol dehydrogenase involved in aminocyclitol biosynthesis of hygromycin A

• Michael O. Akintubosun and
• Melanie A. Higgins

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 589–596, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.51

• noticed that some other enzymes from this PFAM are also paired with aminotransferases to generate amino sugars found in natural products [25][26], so we looked to see if aminotransferases are commonly found by PF01408 sequences. We observed three separate aminotransferase PFAMs near many of the PF01408

• pathways. Genome neighborhood analysis shows that many PF01408 sequences can be found near known biosynthetic enzymes, aminotransferases, and resistance genes suggesting that these enzymes may be promising candidates for targeted gene mining strategies to discover novel natural products. Experimental

Recent developments in the engineered biosynthesis of fungal meroterpenoids

• Zhiyang Quan and
• Takayoshi Awakawa

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 578–588, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.50

• Zhiyang Quan Takayoshi Awakawa RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan 10.3762/bjoc.20.50 Abstract Meroterpenoids are hybrid compounds that are partially derived from terpenoids. This group of natural products displays large structural diversity, and many

• for the design of biosynthetic machineries to produce a variety of bioactive meroterpenoids. Keywords: αKG-dependent dioxygenases; enzyme engineering; fungal meroterpenoids; synthetic biology; terpene cyclases; Introduction Meroterpenoids are complex natural products with intricate skeletal

Entry to new spiroheterocycles via tandem Rh(II)-catalyzed O–H insertion/base-promoted cyclization involving diazoarylidene succinimides

• Alexander Yanovich,
• Anastasia Vepreva,
• Ksenia Malkova,
• Grigory Kantin and
• Dmitry Dar’in

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 561–569, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.48

• modern drug design [1][2]. They are known to promote higher success rates, when targeting three-dimensional protein molecules [3][4]. Furthermore, a wide variety of spirocyclic fragments can be spotted in natural products [5]. The aspects mentioned unveil the development of synthetic methodologies

• antagonist 7 [33], and aldosterone synthase inhibitor 8 [34]) as well as natural products (e.g., new alkaloids deoxytryptoquivaline and deoxynortryptoquivaline from fungus Aspergillus clavatonanicus identified as natural cardiomyocyte-protective agents against cold ischemic injury [35] and possible natural

• )ethanol. In the latter case, the predominant process was found to be the base-promoted migration of the C=C bond of the arylidene fragment into the cycle. Examples of biologically active compounds and natural products based on THF/THP spiro-conjugates with pyrrolidine rings. DAS spirocyclizations reported

A new analog of dihydroxybenzoic acid from Saccharopolyspora sp. KR21-0001

• Rattiya Janthanom,
• Yuta Kikuchi,
• Hiroki Kanto,
• Tomoyasu Hirose,
• Arisu Tahara,
• Takahiro Ishii,
• Arinthip Thamchaipenet and
• Yuki Inahashi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 497–503, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.44

• Actinomycetes are well-known as the main producers of bioactive compounds such as antibiotics, anticancers, and immunosuppressants. Screening of natural products from actinomycetes has been an essential part of several drug discovery programs. Finding such novel biologically active metabolites is immensely

• important because of their beneficial health effects. Recently, the discovery of new compounds has diverted attention to rare actinomycetes, since they are rich sources of natural products. In this study, a collection of rare actinomycetes at Kitasato University has been screened for potential novel

• reaction [9]. This technique has been used to find several new compounds from actinomycetes [10][11][12][13]. In the course of our PC screening for new natural products from rare actinomycetes, Saccharopolyspora sp. KR21-0001 produced a new compound 1, whose physicochemical properties, accurate mass and UV

Development of a chemical scaffold for inhibiting nonribosomal peptide synthetases in live bacterial cells

• Fumihiro Ishikawa,
• Sho Konno,
• Hideaki Kakeya and
• Genzoh Tanabe

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 445–451, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.39

• University, Sakyo, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan 10.3762/bjoc.20.39 Abstract The adenylation (A) domain is essential for non-ribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs), which synthesize various peptide-based natural products, including virulence factors, such as siderophores and genotoxins. Hence, the inhibition of A

Green and sustainable approaches for the Friedel–Crafts reaction between aldehydes and indoles

• Periklis X. Kolagkis,
• Eirini M. Galathri and
• Christoforos G. Kokotos

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 379–426, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.36

• bis(indolyl)methanes (BIMs) have found increased use either as standalone medicine or in combination with other compounds for their bactericidal and fungicidal properties (Scheme 1). BIMs are natural products that are found in certain marine species of sponges and have also been isolated from

• highest fungicidal activity [11]. Brønsted or Lewis acid catalysis – conventional synthetic methods The indole moiety is part of many natural products, agrochemicals, and pharmaceuticals. In medicinal chemistry, indole and its derivatives are considered important compounds, since they exhibit valuable