Natural Products Blog

Natural Products in OBC – our latest selection

15 May 2013

Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry, our sister journal, publishes many articles that cover a variety of natural product chemistry.

We try to keep you updated here, although your best bet is for you to sign up to OBC’s e-alert (free service), and receive the tables of content directly in your inbox every time an issue is published.

Hand-picked for you from the latest issues are:

Total synthesis of (+)-pentamethylsalvianolic acid C
Benjamin L. Alford and Helmut M. Hügel
Org. Biomol. Chem., 2013,11, 2724-2727
DOI: 10.1039/C3OB27478K, Paper

Concise total syntheses of (±)-noruleine and (±)-uleine
Süleyman Patir and Erkan Ertürk
Org. Biomol. Chem., 2013,11, 2804-2810
DOI: 10.1039/C3OB40180D, Paper

A concise approach to the spiroiminal fragment of marineosins
Guang Li, Xun Zhang, Qi Li, Pengju Feng and Yian Shi
Org. Biomol. Chem., 2013,11, 2936-2938
DOI: 10.1039/C3OB40208H, Communication

Highly stereoselective directed reactions and an efficient synthesis of azafuranoses from a chiral aziridine
Hogyu Lee, Jun Hee Kim, Won Koo Lee, Jaeheung Cho, Wonwoo Nam, Jaedeok Lee and Hyun-Joon Ha
Org. Biomol. Chem., 2013,11, 3629-3634
DOI: 10.1039/C3OB27390C, Paper

We hope you enjoy this selection! Let us know what you think…

… and why not submit your latest natural product research to OBC today?

Add a Comment »

NPR Top 10 most accessed articles published in 2012 (Volume 29)

15 Apr 2013

By Aliya Anwar.

Curious about which articles published in 2012 gathered most readership? Here are the Top 10 works your colleagues have been accessing in Natural Product Reports:

Marine natural products
John W. Blunt, Brent R. Copp, Robert A. Keyzers, Murray H. G. Munro and Michèle R. Prinsep
Nat. Prod. Rep., 2012, 29, 144-222
DOI: 10.1039/C2NP00090C

Recent discovery of plant-derived anti-diabetic natural products
Hsin-Yi Hung, Keduo Qian, Susan L. Morris-Natschke, Chau-Shin Hsu and Kuo-Hsiung Lee
Nat. Prod. Rep., 2012, 29, 580-606
DOI: 10.1039/C2NP00074A

Advances in Aspergillus secondary metabolite research in the post-genomic era
James F. Sanchez, Amber D. Somoza, Nancy P. Keller and Clay C. C. Wang
Nat. Prod. Rep., 2012, 29, 351-371
DOI: 10.1039/C2NP00084A

Influenza neuraminidase: A druggable target for natural products
Ulrike Grienke, Michaela Schmidtke, Susanne von Grafenstein, Johannes Kirchmair, Klaus R. Liedl and Judith M. Rollinger
Nat. Prod. Rep., 2012, 29, 11-36
DOI: 10.1039/C1NP00053E

Natural products as kinase inhibitors
Jing Liu, Yi Hu, David L. Waller, Junfeng Wang and Qingsong Liu
Nat. Prod. Rep., 2012, 29, 392-403
DOI: 10.1039/C2NP00097K

The chemical ecology of cyanobacteria
Pedro N. Leão, Niclas Engene, Agostinho Antunes, William H. Gerwick and Vitor Vasconcelos
Nat. Prod. Rep., 2012, 29, 372-391
DOI: 10.1039/C2NP00075J

Electrophilic natural products and their biological targets
Malte Gersch, Johannes Kreuzer and Stephan A. Sieber
Nat. Prod. Rep., 2012, 29, 659-682
DOI: 10.1039/C2NP20012K

The taxonomy, biology and chemistry of the fungal Pestalotiopsis genus
Xiao-Long Yang, Jing-Ze Zhang and Du-Qiang Luo
Nat. Prod. Rep., 2012, 29, 622-641
DOI: 10.1039/C2NP00073C

Aminobenzoates as building blocks for natural product assembly lines
Christopher T. Walsh, Stuart W. Haynes and Brian D. Ames
Nat. Prod. Rep., 2012, 29, 37-59
DOI: 10.1039/C1NP00072A

Strained cyclophane natural products: Macrocyclization at its limits
Tanja Gulder and Phil S. Baran
Nat. Prod. Rep., 2012, 29, 899-934
DOI: 10.1039/C2NP20034A

Interested in submitting your own work to NPR? Submit online today, or email us with your suggestions!

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Polycyclic xanthones, cryptic secondary metabolome, steroidal glycosides: take your pick!

19 Feb 2013

By Marie Cote, Deputy Editor.

Welcome to NPR Issue 3, 2013

I do not know about you, but I find these circular genome data visualization plots make amazing covers. The one featured on this month’s issue illustrates the exciting review article by Christian Hertweck et al., presenting a genomic approach to the cryptic secondary metabolome of the anaerobic word.

Read this article for Free for the next 6 weeks – and let us know what you think by posting a comment below!

You will remember that Professor Hertweck was the winner of the 2011 NPR Lecture Award, and so that you may read more about his work at the forefront of natural products research, we’ve collated two of his previous NPR review articles below:

The chemistry and biology of cytochalasans
Kirstin Scherlach, Daniela Boettger, Nicole Remme and Christian Hertweck
Nat. Prod. Rep., 2010, 27, 869-886

Type II polyketide synthases: gaining a deeper insight into enzymatic teamwork
Christian Hertweck, Andriy Luzhetskyy, Yuri Rebets and Andreas Bechthold
Nat. Prod. Rep., 2007, 24, 162-190

This issue’s Highlight article is by John A. Porco Jr. et al. and summarizes key advancements in the construction of polycyclic xanthones, which have recently attracted significant attention due to their potential as antitumour agents.

Then, Victoria L. Challinor and James J. De Voss review the structure elucidation, bioactivities, biosynthesis, and distribution in the plant kingdom of open-chain steroidal glycosides, which represent a numerous, structurally diverse class of plant saponins.

Finally Yonghong Liu et al. provide an up-to-date account of sesterterpenoids, which structural conciseness and diverse bioactivity have made them attractive targets to the synthetic chemist, with biomedical purposes.

Short and sweet, a selection we hope you will like!

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Natural Products in OBC – our latest selection

06 Feb 2013

By Marie Cote, Deputy Editor.

Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry, our sister journal, publishes many articles that cover a variety of natural product chemistry.

Hand-picked for you from the latest issues are:

Watsonianone A–C, anti-plasmodial β-triketones from the Australian tree, Corymbia watsoniana
Anthony R. Carroll, Vicky M. Avery, Sandra Duffy, Paul I. Forster and Gordon P. Guymer
Org. Biomol. Chem., 2013,11, 453-458
DOI: 10.1039/C2OB26931G, Paper

A mechanistic study on the Hooker oxidation: synthesis of novel indane carboxylic acid derivatives from lapachol
Kenneth O. Eyong, Manohar Puppala, Ponminor Senthil Kumar, Marc Lamshöft, Gabriel N. Folefoc, Michael Spiteller and Sundarababu Baskaran
Org. Biomol. Chem., 2013,11, 459-468
DOI: 10.1039/C2OB26737C, Paper

Synthesis of N,N′-diglycosylated isoindigos
Dennis Kleeblatt, Baraa Siyo, Martin Hein, Viktor O. Iaroshenko, Jamshed Iqbal, Alexander Villinger and Peter Langer
Org. Biomol. Chem., 2013,11, 886-895
DOI: 10.1039/C2OB25866H, Communication

First total synthesis of Debilisone C
Bishwajit Saikia, Thongam Joymati Devi and Nabin C. Barua
Org. Biomol. Chem., 2013,11, 905-913
DOI: 10.1039/C2OB26329G, Paper

Synthesis and biological studies of neopetrosiamides as inhibitors of cancer cell invasion
Kaitlyn M. Towle, Jennifer L. Chaytor, Hongqiang Liu, Pamela Austin, Michel Roberge, Calvin D. Roskelley and John C. Vederas
Org. Biomol. Chem., 2013, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C3OB27238A, Paper

Stereoselective syntheses of racemic quercitols and bromoquercitols starting from cyclohexa-1,4-diene: gala-, epi-, muco-, and neo-quercitol Gökay Aydın, Tahir Savran, Fatih Aktaş, Arif Baran and Metin Balci
Org. Biomol. Chem., 2013, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C3OB26909D, Paper

We hope you enjoy this selection! Let us know what you think…

… and why not submit your latest natural product research to OBC today?

Add a Comment »

Thiopeptide antibiotics, alpha-haloaldehydes, marine natural products and anticancer steroids – Your NPR issue 2

21 Jan 2013

By Marie Cote, Deputy Editor.

Welcome to NPR Issue 2, 2013

Issue 2s, home to the much awaited Marine Natural Products review by John Blunt et al., and much more.

Featuring on the front cover is the work of Jorge A. R. Salvador, M. Luisa Sá e Melo and colleagues at University of Coimbra and Universidade da Beira Interior (Portugal), illustrating their review detailing the anticancer activity of steroids.

In this issue:

Hot off the press
Robert A. Hill and Andrew Sutherland
DOI: 10.1039/C2NP90051C

A personal selection of 33 recent papers is presented covering various aspects of current developments in bioorganic chemistry and novel natural products such as breitfussin A from the Arctic hydrozoan Thuiaria breitfussi.

Biosynthesis of thiopeptide antibiotics and their pathway engineering
Qi Zhang and Wen Liu
DOI: 10.1039/C2NP20107K

A Highlight including advances during 2009–2012 in understanding the generality and specificity of thiopeptide biosynthesis, and on this basis, in expanding the structural diversity by pathway engineering.

α-Haloaldehydes: versatile building blocks for natural product synthesis
Robert Britton and Baldip Kang
DOI: 10.1039/C2NP20108A

This Highlight summarizes the organocatalytic processes available for the enantioselective preparation of α-haloaldehydes and their stereoselective conversion into natural products.

Marine natural products
John W. Blunt, Brent R. Copp, Robert A. Keyzers, Murray H. G. Munro and Michèle R. Prinsep
DOI: 10.1039/C2NP20112G

The much awaited Marine Natural Products review article! Included is an example of the development of genome mining for the discovery of new compounds from marine microbes leading to the finding of salinosporamide K from Salinispora pacifica.

Missed the previous ones? Catch up with the past 5 years of this series:
Marine Natural Products – 2012
Marine Natural Products – 2011
Marine Natural Products – 2010
Marine Natural Products – 2009
Marine Natural Products – 2008

Anticancer steroids: linking natural and semi-synthetic compounds
Jorge A. R. Salvador, João F. S. Carvalho, Marco A. C. Neves, Samuel M. Silvestre, Alcino J. Leitão, M. Manuel C. Silva and M. Luisa Sá e Melo
DOI: 10.1039/C2NP20082A

Steroids, a widespread class of natural compounds, have shown great therapeutic value for a broad array of pathologies. This overview is focused on their anticancer activity, which is very representative of a rich structural diversity and ability to interact with various biological targets and pathways.

Want to see your work in NPR?

Reviews, Highlights and Viewpoints in NPR are generally solicited by members of the editorial board; however we are happy to consider submission enquiries from authors. If you are interested in writing an article for NPR please contact the editorial office with a brief synopsis.

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Welcome to Professor Daniel Romo who joins the NPR Editorial Board

07 Jan 2013

By Marie Cote, Deputy Editor.

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Professor Daniel Romo to the Editorial Board of Natural Products Reports, as of January 2013.

Daniel Romo received his B.A. in chemistry/biology from Texas A&M and a PhD in Chemistry from Colorado State University as a NSF Minority Graduate Fellow under the tutelage of the late Prof. Albert I. Meyers. Following postdoctoral studies at Harvard as an American Cancer Society Fellow, with Prof. Stuart L. Schreiber, he began his independent career at TexasA&M in 1993 and is currently Professor of Chemistry and Director of the Natural Products LINCPHIN Laboratory (TAMU).

Research interests in the Romo Group are at the interface of chemistry and biology focused on total synthesis and biomechanistic studies of natural products and the asymmetric synthesis and application of beta-lactones in organic synthesis and as potential drug candidates. This search led Romo to examine marine specimens – many recent bioactive molecules have been discovered in marine species that are now making their way to the clinic.
Romo sees natural products as playgrounds for developing new synthetic strategies and making related compounds with potentially important therapeutic applications. Natural products are keys to cell biology, and he is working to build the bridge between synthesis and biology.

‘If I couldn’t be dreaming up ways to make natural products, I would want to be diving to isolate those natural products and fishing from the deck on my off time!’ says Daniel.

Why not read Daniel Romo’s latest NPR review article:

Biosynthesis, asymmetric synthesis, and pharmacology, including cellular targets, of the pyrrole-2-aminoimidazole marine alkaloids
Ali Al-Mourabit, Manuel A. Zancanella, Supriya Tilvi and Daniel Romo
DOI: 10.1039/C0NP00013B

NPR benefits from the expertise of exceptional scientists guiding the development of the journal. Do you know who they are? Find out more on our Editorial and Advisory Board members.

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Meet the NPR Editorial team – see where and when you can meet us in 2013

03 Jan 2013

By Marie Cote, Deputy Editor.

The Natural Product Reports Editorial team will be attending a number of conferences in 2013 and we would be delighted to meet you there.

We’re also the team behind NPR’s sister journals Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry, MedChemComm, and the latest addition to the portfolio, Toxicology Research, so we’ll happily discuss your interdisciplinary research work. In fact, many of our authors choose to publish their research across all of these titles.

Here are just some of the conferences where you can meet us in the coming months:

• RSC India Roadshow, visiting Kolkata, Pune and Bangalore – 5-11 February 2013, India – View the full details, including the confirmed speakers’ list– Meet Richard
• Society of Toxicology’s 52nd Annual Meeting –10-14 March 2013, San Antonio, Texas, USA – Meet Marie
• 40th Lakeland Heterocyclic meeting – 9-13 May 2013, Grasmere, UK – Meet Marie
• Frontiers in Medicinal Chemistry (EFMC) - 23-26 June 2013, San Francisco, USA – Meet Richard
• 8-ISMSC (International Symposium on Macrocyclic and Supramolecular Chemistry) – 07-11 July 2013, Washington DC, USA – Meet Richard
• ESOC 2013 (8th European Symposium on Organic Chemistry) – 08-12 July 2013, Marseille, France – Meet Marie
• OMCOS 17 (IUPAC Conference on Organometallic Chemistry Towards Organic Synthesis)- 28 July to 01 August 2013, Fort Collins, USA – Meet Marie
• EUROTOX 2013- 01-04 September 2013, Interlaken, Switzerland – Meet Marie
• Fall ACS meeting- 08-12 September 2013, Indianapolis, USA – Meet Richard
• Asian Medicinal Chemistry Conference – October 2013, Taipei, Taiwan – Meet Richard
• 15th BMOS - Brazilian Meeting on Organic Synthesis, 10-13 November 2013, Campos do Jordão, Brazil – Meet Richard

Let us know if you are planning on attending any of these meetings, as it would be lovely to see you there!

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Ribosomally synthesised natural products: a new name for a new year

13 Dec 2012

By James Anson, Deputy Editor.

A large collection of leading researchers in the field of natural product synthesis have come together to propose a communal nomenclature system for the biosynthesis of ribosomally synthesised and posttranslationally modified peptides (RiPPs).

The number of ribosomally synthesised natural products is rapidly increasing, and currently there is no uniform nomenclature being applied across the different compound classes. The classifications currently being used are starting to break down with the increasing number of available genome sequences; the nomenclature used in the various communities investigating subgroups of natural products of ribosomal origin can be confusing, and in some cases even contradictory.

Following on from several discussion groups, the authors of this review (who are working on different classes of RiPPs) present recommendations for a common nomenclature that encompasses all classes, and hope that such a nomenclature will be supported by the rest of the community with the classification of new classes.

In addition to this nomenclature recommendation the authors also present an overview of the current knowledge of the structures and biosynthesis of more than twenty distinct compound classes with examples from bacteria, plants and fungi.

Read this highly informative review today and help sculpt and direct the future of RiPP research.

Ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptide natural products: overview and recommendations for a universal nomenclature
DOI: 10.1039/C2NP20085F

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Welcome to NPR issue 1, 2013 – beta-lactams, flavoenzymes, and much more

12 Dec 2012

By Marie Cote, Deputy Editor.

Welcome to NPR Issue 1, 2013!

At NPR we’re kick-starting the New Year with a selection of exciting Highlight and Review articles we think you will like…

Interested in antibiotics? Read works by Yeo Joon Yoon et al. highlighting aminoglycosides, the review by Christopher J. Schofield et al. on biosynthetic pathways leading to the different classes of β-lactam antibiotics (cover article), or learn all about the tiacumicin odyssey in this overview by Jieping Zhu et al. of the chemistry and biology of tiacumicins since their discovery to the marketed drug.

Speaking of ribosomally synthesized natural products? Wilfred van der Donk led an impressive international multiauthored article on establishing a uniform and readily recognized nomenclature for ribosomally synthesized and posttranslationally modified natural products. The whole community came together and made a recommendation, the results of which you can read in this article. Read more about it in this post.

This issue wouldn’t be complete without Christopher Walsh and Timothy A. Wencewicz’s work on flavoenzymes as versatile catalysts in biosynthetic pathways, that enable the many chemical transformations building complexity in the biosynthesized natural products architecture.

All these articles are Free to Access for an unlimited period – enjoy and spread the word!

Want to see your work in NPR?

1 Comment »

Natural Products in OBC – access our latest selection

12 Dec 2012

By Marie Cote, Deputy Editor.

Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry, our sister journal, publishes many articles that cover a variety of natural product chemistry.

Hand-picked for you from the latest issues are:

Intramolecular nitrone dipolar cycloadditions: control of regioselectivity and synthesis of naturally-occurring spirocyclic alkaloids
Alastair J. Hodges, Joseph P. Adams, Andrew D. Bond, Andrew B. Holmes, Neil J. Press, Stephen D. Roughley, John H. Ryan, Simon Saubern, Catherine J. Smith, Michael D. Turnbull and Annabella F. Newton
DOI: 10.1039/C2OB26333E, Paper

You will have spotted in this article’s authors list Annabella Newton, who contributes to the OBC blogs as a guest web-writer. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher based in Melbourne, Australia. Why not read some of her posts here:
- One for all and all for one: shape-shifting organic molecules that spontaneously resolve
- Supramolecular chemistry: synthetic ion channels

A furan Diels–Alder cycloaddition approach to scyphostatin analogues
Calum J. Fraser, Gareth P. Howell and Joseph P. A. Harrity
DOI: 10.1039/C2OB26793D, Paper

Spiralisones A–D: acylphloroglucinol hemiketals from an Australian marine brown alga, Zonaria spiralis
Hua Zhang, Xue Xiao, Melissa M. Conte, Zeinab Khalil and Robert J. Capon
DOI: 10.1039/C2OB26988K, Paper

Total syntheses of pamamycin 607 and methyl nonactate: stereoselective cyclisation of homoallylic alcohols that had been prepared with remote stereocontrol using allylstannanes
Olivier Germay, Naresh Kumar, Christopher G. Moore and Eric J. Thomas
DOI: 10.1039/C2OB26801A, Paper

We hope you enjoy this selection! Let us know what you think…

… and why not submit your latest natural product research to OBC today?