The iterative type I polyketide synthases (IPKSs) are central to the biosynthesis of an enormously diverse array of natural products in fungi. These natural products, known as polyketides, exhibit a wide range of biological activities and include clinically important drugs as well as undesirable toxins. The PKSs synthesize these structurally diverse polyketides via a series of decarboxylative condensations of malonyl-CoA extender units and β-keto modifications in a highly programmed manner. Significant progress has been made over the past few years in understanding the biosynthetic mechanism and programming of fungal PKSs. The continuously expanding fungal genome sequence data have sparked genome-directed discoveries of new fungal PKSs and associated products. The increasing number of fungal PKSs that have been linked to their products along with in-depth biochemical and structural characterizations of these large enzymes have remarkably improved our knowledge on the molecular basis for polyketide structu...

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Navigating the Fungal Polyketide Chemical Space: From Genes to Molecules

Fungal metabolites with anticancer activity

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Current Applications of Suzuki–Miyaura Coupling Reaction in The Total Synthesis of Natural Products: An update

The preceding four decades have witnessed a major expansion in the field of free-radical assisted reactions, as they are becoming a key tool in organic, polymer and complex natural product chemistry. This progress has clearly changed the traditional idea of free-radical reactions being “extremely uncontrollable”, thereby allowing chemists to deal with free radicals in a more accurate and controlled way. Manganese(III) acetate mediated radical reactions have reached distinction in this field, as a wide range of protocols involving manganese(III) acetate under mild and efficient reaction conditions have been developed for the synthesis of biologically active and important organic molecules through oxidation, addition and cyclization reactions, which are in general difficult to achieve by the established synthetic operations. The present review focuses on manganese(III) acetate mediated oxidative free-radical reactions that have been developed and adapted during the last five years. It includes the advancements made in the field of free-radical promoted carbon–carbon and carbon–oxygen bond forming reactions, illustrating the examples of furans, hydrofurans, pyrroles, bicyclic lactones, biaryls, oxepins, indole-alkaloids, 1,2-benzanthracene and C60-fused tetrahydronaphthalene synthesis. Numerous manganese(III) acetate initiated carbon–phosphorus bond formation reactions were also devised during recent years, involving both phosphonyl and phosphinoyl radicals, and are a key part of this review. Manganese(III) acetate promotes functionalization of significant organic compounds, thereby guiding the synthesis of important and complex molecules, such as the formation of propellanes, quinolinones, 1,2-dioxalanes; oxidation of indoles; lactonization of fullerene [C60], malonyl cyclopentanes, glycols; and hydroperoxidation of heterocycles. The review will also envelop several recent milestones that have been achieved in the chemistry of natural products precising the vital role of manganese(III) acetate in the key synthetic steps.

Recent advances in manganese(iii) acetate mediated organic synthesis

Natural products containing the tetramic acid core scaffold have been isolated from an assortment of terrestrial and marine species and often display wide ranging and potent biological activities including antibacterial, antiviral and antitumoral activities. Owing to their intriguing structure and biological activity, tetramic acid-containing agents, both natural and synthetic, are attracting increasingly significant attention from biologists and chemists. Indeed, this increasing enthusiasm has led to significant advances. The goal of this review is to present not only these advances but also the broader context that frames them and provides a complete view of the naturally occurring tetramic acids inclusive of studies aimed at isolation, structure elucidation, and evaluation of biological activities. Consistent with advances over the past decade this review covers the period spanning 2002 to 2013.

Naturally occurring tetramic acid products: isolation, structure elucidation and biological activity

An acinar morphogenesis inhibitor named fusarisetin A (1) that possesses both an unprecedented carbon skeleton and a new pentacyclic ring system has been identified from an in-house fractionated fungal library using a three-dimensional matrigel-induced acinar morphogenesis assay system. The structure of 1 was determined in detail by NMR and circular dichroism spectroscopy, X-ray analysis, and chemical reaction experiments.

Su N.Ok Kim

Papers

Fusarisetin A, an Acinar Morphogenesis Inhibitor from a Soil Fungus, Fusarium sp. FN080326