Scientists achieve first total synthesis of potentially anti-rheumatic sesquiterpene merillianin

March 04, 2024

An avenue that scientists are currently exploring for the development of novel pharmaceuticals involves the synthesis of bioactive compounds found in Chinese herbal medicine. This collaborative effort, combining traditional knowledge with modern scientific methods, focuses on pharmaceutically relevant compounds found in medicinal plants for large-scale synthesis.

merrillianin has a complex structure with a central arrangement of six consecutive stereogenic carbon centers, including three quaternary carbon stereogenic centers and three rings fused to two carbons. This complexity has posed challenges for the artificial synthesis of merrillianin, leading to limited progress in its practical application since its isolation.

"Illicium sesquiterpenes are a group of compounds that are expected to be effective against neurological diseases, but their highly oxidized and ring-fused structures have made it difficult to synthesize them artificially. However, we have synthetic technique and knowledge about the synthesis of highly complicated compounds such as taxol," says Dr. Murata.

From:Phys.org