The first total syntheses of mallotojaponin B and C as well as several analogues have been achieved. Biological evaluation of the synthesized compounds against Plasmodium falciparum and Trypanosoma brucei have also been carried out.

Mild oxidation of bromides by iodine(III) reagents generated active electrophilic bromination species that were reacted with polyprenoids. By simple and minor variations of an I(III)/Br combination, the reactivity could be selectively steered toward dibromination, oxybromination, or bromocyclization, giving access to a wide array of brominated motifs.

This review covers the methods that chemists have developed to access halogenated polycyclic structures from polyenes, by emulating Nature’s enzymatic machineries. From pioneering studies to the most recent developments, the different strategies, whether based on the use of standard reagents or on the design of specific ones, will be presented. Finally, asymmetric reactions and applications for the total synthesis of natural products will be exposed.1 Introduction2 Pioneering Studies3 Use of Specific Reagents4 Use of N-Haloamides5 Asymmetric Reactions6 Total Synthesis of Halogenated Natural Products7 Conclusion and Perspectives

Five different halofunctionalizations of acyclic monoterpenoids were performed using a combination of a hypervalent iodine(III) reagent and a halide salt. In this manner, the dibromination, the bromo(trifluoro)acetoxylation, the bromohydroxylation, the iodo(trifluoro)acetoxylation or the ene-type chlorination of the distal trisubstituted double bond occurred with excellent selectivity and moderate to good yields.

Although an interaction between hydrocarbon and fluorocarbon 1,3,2,4‐benzodithiadiazines (1 ) and P(C6H5)3 continuously produces chiral 1,2,3‐benzodithiadiazol‐2‐yl iminophosporanes (2; in this work, 5,7‐difluoro derivative 2a ) via 1:1 condensation, an interaction between 1 and other PR3 reagents gives different products. With R  OC6H5 and both hydrocarbon and fluorocarbon 1, only X=P(OC6H5)3 (X = S, O) were identified in the complex reaction mixtures by 13С and 31Р NMR and GC‐MS. With R = C6F5, no interaction with the archetypal 1 was observed but catalytic addition of atmospheric water to the heterocycle afforded 2‐amino‐N‐sulfinylbenzenesulfenamide (4 ). With electrophilic B(C6F5)3 instead of nucleophilic P(C6F5)3, only adduct H3N→B(C6F5)3 and a new polymorph of C6F5B(OH)2 were isolated and identified by X‐ray diffraction (XRD). A molecular structure of 2a was confirmed by XRD, and the π‐stacked orientation of one of phenyl groups and heterocyclic moiety was observed. This structure is in general agreement with that calculated at the RI‐MP2 level of theory, as well as at three different levels of DFT theory with the PBE and B3LYP functionals. Mild thermolysis of 2a in a dilute decane solution gave persistent 5,7‐difluoro‐1,2,3‐benzodithiazolyl (3a ) identified by EPR in combination with DFT calculations.

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Social insects are in mutualism with microorganisms, contributing to their resistance against infectious diseases. The fungus Pseudallescheria boydii SNB-CN85 isolated from termites produces ovalicin derivatives resulting from the esterification of the less hindered site of the ovalicin epoxide by long-chain fatty acids. Their structures were elucidated using spectroscopic analysis and semisynthesis from ovalicin. For ovalicin, these compounds displayed antiprotozoal activities against Plasmodium falciparum and Trypanosoma brucei, with IC50 values of 19.8 and 1.1 µM, respectively, for the most active compound, i.e., ovalicin linoleate. In parallel, metabolomic profiling of a collection of P. boydii strains associated with termites made it possible to highlight this class of compounds together with tyroscherin derivatives in all strains. Finally, the complete genome of P. boydii strains was obtained by sequencing, and the cluster of potential ovalicin and ovalicin biosynthesis genes was annotated. Through these metabolomic and genomic analyses, a new ovalicin derivative named boyden C, in which the 6-membered ring of ovalicin was opened by oxidative cleavage, was isolated and structurally characterized.