Chemists report the first total synthesis of the natural product epicolactone
In the latest issue of the journal Nature Chemistry researchers led by Dirk Trauner, Professor of Chemical Biology and Genetics at LMU Munich, describe the biomimetic synthesis of epicolactone, a compound which was first isolated from an endophytic fungus. "What we have accomplished is one of the shortest and most elegant total syntheses of a natural product ever reported," says Trauner, as he and his colleagues have indeed succeeded in producing a highly complex molecular structure in a minimal number of steps. "This is actually very close to being an ideal synthesis – at least according to one of our reviewers," he adds. The method used not only reveals how epicolactone is assembled by its fungal producer but also places the molecule in a broader biosynthetic context.