Enantioselective Synthesis of 8-epi-Xanthatin and Biological Evaluation of Xanthanolides and Their Derivatives

Abstract

An enantioselective synthesis of 8-epi-xanthatin (9) has been accomplished starting from the bicyclic lactone 3, which has been used for the synthesis of other xanthanolides, sundiversifolide (4) and diversifolide (5), through a synthetic route without the use of a selenium species. Additionally we have evaluated antimicrobial activities of five natural xanthanolides and their derivatives. Although the synthetic xanthanolides did not show any activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), some of the synthetic intermediates did exhibit moderate antimicrobial activities.