Ma, Zi, Yu. ACIEE, 2010, EarlyView. DOI: 10.1002/anie.201002299.
Why make one natural product when you can make two just as easily?  Or three in this case, but the headline syntheses are the Galbulimima Alkaloids GB-13 and GB-16 – notable members of a family that is getting some serious attention in pharma – one analogue is currently in phase III trials.  With all that potential, it’s not surprising that these beasties have seen quite a bit of synthetic attention; indeed, GB-13 was one of the first syntheses I …

Watanabe, Sumiya, Ishigami. ACIEE, 2010, EarlyView. DOI: 10.1002/anie.201002505. [No SI available]
As much as biological activity is a great rationale for working on a molecule, I do like it when a group does the chemistry for the chemistry.  To quote Watanabe, ‘Although urechitol A itself exhibited no biological activity, its unique tetracyclic structure prompted us to investigate its synthesis‘.  And when a group can make such an interesting molecule without too much resource, why not?  Key, of course, was building that fascinating cycloheptane, featuring not one, but two oxa-bridges.  Their plan was to …

This month’s Chemistry World column is Aplykurodinone 1, a rather neat Danishefsky synthesis.