One-pot synthesis of functionalized bis(trifluoromethylated)benziodoxoles from iodine(I) precursors.

Bis(trifluoromethylated)benziodoxoles (Bx) are broadly used cyclic hypervalent iodine reagents due to their stability and unique chemical properties. However, current methods to access them require several steps and long reaction times, making their synthesis tedious. Herein, a direct one-pot synthesis of bis(trifluoromethylated) Bx reagents from iodine(I) precursors is reported, enabling the synthesis of functionalized reagents.

Chemo-enzymatic total synthesis of the spirosorbicillinols.

The natural product class of the sorbicillinoids is composed of structurally diverse molecules with many strong, biomedically relevant biological activities. Owing to their complex structures, the synthesis of sorbicillinoids is a challenging task. Here we show the first total synthesis of the fungal sorbicillinoids spirosorbicillinols A-C.

Antibiotic Potential of the Ambigol Cyanobacterial Natural Product Class and Simplified Synthetic Analogs.

The ambigols are cyanobacterial natural products characterized by three polychlorinated aromatic building blocks connected by biaryl and biaryl ether bridges. All ambigols known to date possess promising biological activities. Most significantly, ambigol A was reported to have antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacteria, such as and .

Synthesis of Trifluoromethylated Alkenes: Hypervalent Iodine Meets High-Valent Copper.

The first trifluoromethylation of vinylbenziodoxolones (VBX) is reported herein. The synthetic method is based on the use of bench-stable, high-valent copper(III) species, and the reaction can be initiated under thermal conditions and/or irradiation (365 nm) giving access to trifluoromethylated alkenes in a stereoselective fashion. Various VBX reagents derived from tyrosine, cysteine, small peptides, thiols and amides can be used as precursors.

Carrier Protein-Free Enzymatic Biaryl Coupling in Arylomycin A2 Assembly and Structure of the Cytochrome P450 AryC.

Invited for the cover of this issue are Sabine Schneider, Tobias A. M. Gulder and co-workers at Technical University of Dresden, Technical University of Munich and Ludwig-Maximillians-University Munich.

Carrier Protein-Free Enzymatic Biaryl Coupling in Arylomycin A2 Assembly and Structure of the Cytochrome P450 AryC.

The arylomycin antibiotics are potent inhibitors of bacterial type I signal peptidase. These lipohexapeptides contain a biaryl structural motif reminiscent of glycopeptide antibiotics. We herein describe the functional and structural evaluation of AryC, the cytochrome P450 performing biaryl coupling in biosynthetic arylomycin assembly.

Total Synthesis of the Ambigols: A Cyanobacterial Class of Polyhalogenated Natural Products.

The first total synthesis of all members of the cyanobacterial natural product class of the ambigols is described. Key steps of the synthetic strategy are the formation of sterically demanding mono- and bis-iodonium salts to install the required biaryl ether structural elements and Suzuki cross-coupling giving straightforward access to the biaryl bonds. The synthetic methods are also utilized to construct unnatural or hypothetical ambigols that are still awaiting discovery from Nature.

Chemoenzymatic Total Synthesis of Sorbicatechol Structural Analogues and Evaluation of Their Antiviral Potential.

Sorbicillinoids are fungal polyketides characterized by highly complex and diverse molecular structures, with considerable stereochemical intricacy combined with a high degree of oxygenation. Many sorbicillinoids possess promising biological activities. An interesting member of this natural product family is sorbicatechol A, which is reported to have antiviral activity, particularly against influenza A virus (H1N1).

Bypassing Biocatalytic Substrate Limitations in Oxidative Dearomatization Reactions by Transient Substrate Mimicking.

Enzymatic oxidative dearomatization is an efficient way to generate chiral molecules from simple arenes. One example is the flavin-dependent monooxygenase SorbC involved in sorbicillinoid biosynthesis. However, SorbC requires a long-chain keto substituent at its phenolic substrate, thus preventing its application beyond the synthesis of natural sorbicillinoids or close structural analogues.