Total Synthesis and Anti-inflammatory Activity of Asperjinone and Asperimide C.

Total syntheses of two γ-butenolide natural products, asperjinone () and asperimide C () in both racemic and chiral forms have been accomplished utilizing Basavaiah's one-pot Friedel-Crafts/maleic anhydride formation protocol as a key strategy. Our syntheses verified the revised structure of proposed by Williams et al. and the structure and absolute configuration of reported by the Li group.

Synthesis and potential antidiabetic and lipid-lowering activities of putative asperidine B and its desmethyl analogue.

Putative asperidine B is an unnatural 2,6-disubstituted piperidin-3-ol and a structural isomer of (+)-preussin, a well-known pyrrolidin-3-ol alkaloid. This work reports the first enantioselective synthesis of putative asperidine B and its desmethyl analogue via a chiron approach starting from d-isoascorbic acid as well as evaluation of their free-radical scavenging, antidiabetic, and anti-hyperlipidemic activities. Both putative asperidine B and its desmethyl analogue markedly reduced the total reactive oxygen species (ROS) without cytotoxicity in hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) cells.