A general strategy for the synthesis of taxane diterpenes.

The carbon skeleton of any organic molecule serves as the foundation for its three-dimensional structure, playing a pivotal role in determining its physical and biological properties. As such, taxane diterpenes are one of the most well-known natural product families, primarily owing to the success of their most prominent compound, paclitaxel, an effective anticancer therapeutic for more than 25 years. In contrast to classical taxanes, the bioactivity of cyclotaxanes (also referred to as complex taxanes) remains significantly underexplored.

The Chemistry of Nonclassical Taxane Diterpene.

The taxane diterpenes are a pharmaceutically vital family of natural products, consisting of more than 550 congeners. All taxane diterpenes are isolated from slow growing evergreen shrubs (genus Taxus) commonly known as "yews" and have a history of over 50 years as potent anticancer compounds. The most prominent congener, taxol (paclitaxel = PTX), has been used in clinics for more than 25 years and is one of the top-selling anticancer drugs worldwide, with annual sales reaching 1.