Synthesis of electrophile-tethered preQ₁ analogs for covalent attachment to preQ₁ RNA

• Laurin Flemmich and
• Ronald Micura

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 483–489, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.35

• antibiotic properties, others expand the chemical diversity and thus the functional sophistication of ribonucleic acids, as in the case of Q [3]. In most bacteria, Q biosynthesis is tightly regulated by riboswitches, which are highly structured RNA elements located mostly in the 5’-leader of messenger RNA

Synthesis, characterization, antimicrobial, cytotoxic and carbonic anhydrase inhibition activities of multifunctional pyrazolo-1,2-benzothiazine acetamides

• Ayesha Saeed,
• Shahana Ehsan,
• Muhammad Zia-ur-Rehman,
• Erin M. Marshall,
• Sandra Loesgen,
• Abdus Saleem,
• Simone Giovannuzzi and
• Claudiu T. Supuran

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 348–357, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.25

• 10.3762/bjoc.21.25 Abstract The advent of antibiotic resistance in microorganisms requires the discovery and synthesis of novel antibiotics. At the same time, human pathogens are contributing to chronic and persistent inflammation. Motivated by these two concerning issues, new antibiotic drug candidates

• and 13C NMR spectroscopy. All compounds were tested against five human microbial strains including three different strains of Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923, ATCC BAA-41, and ATCC BAA-44), Escherichia coli (ATCC 8739), and Candida albicans (ATCC 90027) to evaluate their antibiotic potential. The

• results showed that out of fourteen synthesized compounds, 7b (MIC90 = 16 μg/mL) and 7h (MIC90 = 8.0 μg/mL) exhibited potent antibiotic activity against different strains of S. aureus (susceptible, methicillin-resistant, and multidrug-resistant). Cytotoxic studies against the human colon cancer mammalian

Antibiofilm and cytotoxic metabolites from the entomopathogenic fungus Samsoniella aurantia

• Rita Toshe,
• Syeda J. Khalid,
• Blondelle Matio Kemkuignou,
• Esteban Charria-Girón,
• Paul Eckhardt,
• Birthe Sandargo,
• Kunlapat Nuchthien,
• J. Jennifer Luangsa-ard,
• Till Opatz,
• Hedda Schrey,
• Sherif S. Ebada and
• Marc Stadler

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 327–339, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.23

• infections are associated with biofilm formation, respectively, including serious infections affecting mucosal membranes or on implants yielding serious threats in hospitalized patients [3][4]. Consequently, biofilm-based antibiotic resistance poses a major threat to human health and substantially

Discovery of ianthelliformisamines D–G from the sponge Suberea ianthelliformis and the total synthesis of ianthelliformisamine D

• Sasha Hayes,
• Yaoying Lu,
• Bernd H. A. Rehm and
• Rohan A. Davis

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3205–3214, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.266

• aeruginosa biofilm inhibitors and antibiotic enhancers. Large-scale extraction and isolation studies resulted in the discovery of four new and minor natural products, ianthelliformisamines D–G (4–7) and the known steroid, aplysterol (8). Compounds 4–7 were fully characterised following 1D/2D NMR, MS and UV

• published with their antibiotic assessment against numerous bacterial species reported [8][9][10][11]. Our recent publication showed that of the naturally occurring metabolites, compound 3 inhibits the formation of P. aeruginosa PAO1 biofilms (MIC 53.1 µg/mL), whilst 1 and 2 enhanced the antibiotic effect

• of ciprofloxacin when used in combination [12]. In efforts to further examine the chemistry of S. ianthelliformis and potentially discover new antibiotic leads, we undertook a scaled-up chemical investigation on the original specimen from which ianthelliformisamines A–C were isolated. Herein, we

Hypervalent iodine-mediated intramolecular alkene halocyclisation

• Charu Bansal,
• Oliver Ruggles,
• Albert C. Rowett and
• Alastair J. J. Lennox

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3113–3133, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.258

• 4 [9][10] (Figure 1). Halogenated cyclised structures have also been found to exhibit medicinal and pharmaceutical properties, including antibacterial [11], antibiotic [12], and enzyme inhibition [13] among others. The general mechanism for the HVI-mediated halocyclisation of alkenes proceeds

Chemical structure metagenomics of microbial natural products: surveying nonribosomal peptides and beyond

• Thomas Ma and
• John Chu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3050–3060, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.253

• the glycopeptide antibiotic family [62][63]. Their aromatic rings undergo oxidative coupling to form biaryl moieties that restrict atropisomerism; the resulting rigid structure is key to their high affinity binding to peptidoglycan intermediates [64][65]. Glycopeptide antibiotics include vancomycin

Synthesis of pyrrole-fused dibenzoxazepine/dibenzothiazepine/triazolobenzodiazepine derivatives via isocyanide-based multicomponent reactions

• Marzieh Norouzi,
• Mohammad Taghi Nazeri,
• Ahmad Shaabani and
• Behrouz Notash

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2870–2882, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.241

• compounds with antibiotic, antiviral, and anticancer properties that are found in many drugs and natural products [1][2][3][4][5][6]. Pyrroles' biological properties manifest when they are fused to other heterocycles [7][8][9][10][11][12]. Among them, seven-membered heterocycles of the benzodiazepine

Synthesis and antimycotic activity of new derivatives of imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidines

• Dmitriy Yu. Vandyshev,
• Daria A. Mangusheva,
• Khidmet S. Shikhaliev,
• Kirill A. Scherbakov,
• Oleg N. Burov,
• Alexander D. Zagrebaev,
• Tatiana N. Khmelevskaya,
• Alexey S. Trenin and
• Fedor I. Zubkov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2806–2817, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.236

• include the use of immunosuppressive and cytotoxic drugs, broad-spectrum antibiotic therapy, pre-existing illnesses such as AIDS or diabetes, and the use of central venous catheters, urethral catheters, and implantable medical devices [42]. The mainstay of therapy for these infections is the use of broad

Efficient modification of peroxydisulfate oxidation reactions of nitrogen-containing heterocycles 6-methyluracil and pyridine

• Alfiya R. Gimadieva,
• Yuliya Z. Khazimullina,
• Aigiza A. Gilimkhanova and
• Akhat G. Mustafin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 2599–2607, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.219

• , including drugs and alkaloids [8]. Several drugs are known to contain the 2-pyridone structure, such as the cardiotonic drugs milrinone (Figure 1c) and amrinone (Figure 1d) [9][10], as well as the antibiotic pilicide (Figure 1e) [11][12]. As described in [13] during preliminary experiments, it was

The Groebke–Blackburn–Bienaymé reaction in its maturity: innovation and improvements since its 21st birthday (2019–2023)

• Cristina Martini,
• Muhammad Idham Darussalam Mardjan and
• Andrea Basso

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1839–1879, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.162

Discovery of antimicrobial peptides clostrisin and cellulosin from Clostridium: insights into their structures, co-localized biosynthetic gene clusters, and antibiotic activity

• Moisés Alejandro Alejo Hernandez,
• Katia Pamela Villavicencio Sánchez,
• Rosendo Sánchez Morales,
• Karla Georgina Hernández-Magro Gil,
• David Silverio Moreno-Gutiérrez,
• Eddie Guillermo Sanchez-Rueda,
• Yanet Teresa-Cruz,
• Brian Choi,
• Armando Hernández Garcia,
• Alba Romero-Rodríguez,
• Oscar Juárez,
• Siseth Martínez-Caballero,
• Mario Figueroa and
• Corina-Diana Ceapă

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1800–1816, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.159

• lanthipeptide synthetases exhibit antimicrobial activity against various pathogens, including drug-resistant strains [23][24]. These molecules are relevant as they have strong antibiotic effects against pathogenic bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus sp., Clostridioides difficile, and

• cellulolyticum, and clostrubin, a polyphenolic polyketide antibiotic and the first reported polyketide from anaerobic bacteria [35][36][37]. Therefore, the discovery of a lantibiotic with a Clostridium origin, reported in this study, has significant implications for developing novel antibiotics. The unique

• each bacterium at 10.5 µg/mL, where they showed no inhibition. The peptides exhibited no antibiotic activity against E. coli ATCC IM08B, C. difficile R20291, A. baumannii ATCC BAA 747, and MRSA at the concentrations employed. It was expected that the lack of effect on E. coli would occur, as the pre

Syntheses and medicinal chemistry of spiro heterocyclic steroids

• Laura L. Romero-Hernández,
• Ana Isabel Ahuja-Casarín,
• Penélope Merino-Montiel,
• Sara Montiel-Smith,
• José Luis Vega-Báez and
• Jesús Sandoval-Ramírez

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1713–1745, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.152

• -thiazolidin-4-one moiety at the C-3 steroid position, employing the drugs sulfapyridine and sulfadiazine. The corresponding heterocycles were afforded in similar yields. The spiro products were evaluated for their antimicrobial and antifungal properties, demonstrating comparable activity to the antibiotic

Chemo-enzymatic total synthesis: current approaches toward the integration of chemical and enzymatic transformations

• Ryo Tanifuji and
• Hiroki Oguri

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1693–1712, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.151

• macrolactonization catalyzed by two massive PKS modules exemplifies a refined and innovative method in chemo-enzymatic synthesis. Tylactone (4), a 16-membered macrolactone, was isolated from a Streptomyces fradiae mutant and characterized as the aglycone of the macrolide antibiotic tylosin (Scheme 7) [69]. Since the

Methyltransferases from RiPP pathways: shaping the landscape of natural product chemistry

• Maria-Paula Schröder,
• Isabel P.-M. Pfeiffer and
• Silja Mordhorst

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1652–1670, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.147

• resulting natural products with a spectrum of chemical complexity, contributing to the broad range of biological activities exhibited by RiPPs. Bioactivities attributed to RiPPs include a wide range of effects, such as antibiotic, antifungal, antiviral, antiparasitic, antitumour, analgesic, anti

• a class I SAM-dependent MT. The closest structural homologues with defined biosynthetic pathways are CcbJ and KedS8. These enzymes N-methylate the antibiotic lincosamide celesticetin and the anticancer protein kedaricidin, respectively. Crocagin A is a potent inhibitor of the RNA binding protein

• -terminally methylated nisin retains its antibiotic activity, with MIC (minimal inhibitory concentration) values of 1 µM and 4 µM against Lactococcus lactis and Bacillus subtilis, respectively. Haloduracin is a two-component lanthibiotic that is methylated at both cyclised N-termini by CypM. These experiments

Polymer degrading marine Microbulbifer bacteria: an un(der)utilized source of chemical and biocatalytic novelty

• Weimao Zhong and
• Vinayak Agarwal

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1635–1651, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.146

• (VHPO) was detected in the genome and recombinantly produced VHPO was shown to brominate AQs. Besides, the brominated AQs demonstrated increased antibiotic activity against Staphylococcus aureus and other marine bacteria [148]. In addition to the antimicrobial activity demonstrated herein, AQs are

Supramolecular assemblies of amphiphilic donor–acceptor Stenhouse adducts as macroscopic soft scaffolds

• Ka-Lung Hung,
• Leong-Hung Cheung,
• Yikun Ren,
• Ming-Hin Chau,
• Yan-Yi Lam,
• Takashi Kajitani and
• Franco King-Chi Leung

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1590–1603, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.142

• calcium chloride solution, the obtained DAn macroscopic scaffold was washed three times with fresh Milli-Q water, followed by the addition of 0.5 mL of a growth medium consisting of minimum essential medium (MEM α, no phenol red, Gibco), 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS, Gibco), and 1% antibiotic–antimycotic

Photoswitchable glycoligands targeting Pseudomonas aeruginosa LecA

• Yu Fan,
• Ahmed El Rhaz,
• Stéphane Maisonneuve,
• Emilie Gillon,
• Maha Fatthalla,
• Franck Le Bideau,
• Guillaume Laurent,
• Samir Messaoudi,
• Anne Imberty and
• Juan Xie

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1486–1496, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.132

• antibiotic-sparing anti-infective drugs. Building synthetic glycoconjugates for the inhibition and modulation of bacterial lectins have shown promising results. Light-sensitive lectin ligands could allow the modulation of lectins activity with precise spatiotemporal control. Despite the potential of

• the bacteria. Bacterial lectins are therefore attractive targets for the development of new antibiotic-sparing anti-infective drugs. For example, some Escherichia coli fimbrial lectin FimH inhibitors are currently in clinical development to treat and prevent urinary tract infections [9][10]. A large

Bioinformatic prediction of the stereoselectivity of modular polyketide synthase: an update of the sequence motifs in ketoreductase domain

• Changjun Xiang,
• Shunyu Yao,
• Ruoyu Wang and
• Lihan Zhang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1476–1485, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.131

• : bioinformatics; conserved motifs; ketoreductase; polyketide synthase; stereocontrol; Introduction Type I modular polyketide synthases (PKSs) are large enzyme complexes that play a crucial role in the biosynthesis of bacterial polyketides, including many important clinical drugs such as erythromycin (antibiotic

Synthetic applications of the Cannizzaro reaction

• Bhaskar Chatterjee,
• Dhananjoy Mondal and
• Smritilekha Bera

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 1376–1395, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.120

• intramolecular Cannizzaro reaction was demonstrated by the group of Schmalz in the total synthesis of the marine antibiotic pestalone [86]. They observed a facile isomerization of the pestalone derivatives 55/57 into the intramolecular lactone derivatives rac-56a,b which features a Cannizzaro–Tishchenko-type

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

• . Natural products with furan moieties can also be signaling hormones. Methylenomycin furans (MMFs) are naturally occurring secondary metabolites that are produced by Streptomyces coelicolor, a soil dwelling bacterium. These molecules are important as they induce the production of the antibiotic

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

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

• antibiotic activity towards Gram-negative bacteria. An NNG degrading heme enzyme, called NnlA, has recently been discovered in the genome of Variovorax sp. strain JS1663 (Vs NnlA). Evidence is presented that NnlA and therefore, NNG degradation activity is widespread. To achieve this objective, we

• often exhibit antibiotic activity and it has been shown that NNG exhibits antibiotic activity towards Gram-negative bacteria (0.18 to 25 μg/mL) [24]. Moreover, the nitramine functional group has potential to serve as a potent warhead in an antibiotic. For example, a cytochrome P450 homolog, XplA

• portion of NNG would be expected to exist as the inhibitory nitronate form at physiological pH, suggesting another potential role for nitramine groups as potent warheads in antibiotics. This antibiotic activity may also require further modification of NNG or its incorporation into a larger natural product

Synthesis of new representatives of A₃B-type carboranylporphyrins based on meso-tetra(pentafluorophenyl)porphyrin transformations

• Victoria M. Alpatova,
• Evgeny G. Rys,
• Elena G. Kononova and
• Valentina A. Ol'shevskaya

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 767–776, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.70

• biosensors, bioimaging probes, and especially as photosensitizers (PSs) in photodynamic therapy (PDT) [2]. PDT is a treatment modality that uses the combination of a non-toxic PS, oxygen, and light to treat diseases ranging from cancer to age-related macular degeneration and antibiotic-resistant infections

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

• production of secondary metabolites. For example, overexpression of Streptomyces antibiotic regulatory protein (SARP) family transcriptional activators led to the discovery of many new secondary metabolites [42]. Du et al. searched for SARP family transcriptional activators from the draft genome of

• inducing resistance, and this approach has contributed to the isolation of many new compounds [47]. The ribosome engineering method is based on the principle that a mutation in the ribosomal S12 protein, which is associated with the acquisition of antibiotic resistance, activates secondary metabolism. The

• production of antibiotics such as actinorhodin (ACT, 8), undecylprodigiosin (RED, 21), and calcium-dependent antibiotic (CDA, 22) in Streptomyces coelicolor M145 (Figure 3b). Chen et al. and Shu et al. reported that under stress associated with high concentrations of glutamate, AfsQ1/Q2 is important not only

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

• understanding of polyketide biosynthesis has been reached, including a detailed knowledge of the extender unit selection and the stereochemical implications that are predictable from amino acid sequences [5][6]. The polyene antibiotic bacillaene was first isolated from Bacillus subtilis [7]. This soil-dwelling