γ‐Aromatic Butenolides of Microbial Source – A Review of Their Structures, Biological Activities and Biosynthesis

Abstract

γ‐Aromatic butenolides (γ‐AB) are an important type of structures found in many bioactive microbial secondary metabolites (SMs). γ‐AB refer to a group of natural products (NPs) containing five‐membered (unsaturated) lactones with 3‐phenyl and 4‐benzyl substituents. Their wide‐range biological activities have inspired pharmaceutical chemists to explore its biosynthesis mechanisms and design strategies to construct the γ‐AB skeleton. Recently, there are a great deal of interesting research progress on the structures, biological activities and biosynthesis of γ‐AB. This review will focus on these aspects and summarize the important achievements of γ‐AB from 1975 to 2021.

Progress in catalytic asymmetric α-functionalization of vinylogous nucleophilic species

“…Butenolides are popular synthons widely applicable to the enantioselective synthesis of chiral butenolide derivatives, which are found in a number of pharmaceutical molecules, natural products, and important bioactive compounds. 82 In 2010, an initial breakthrough in the enantioselective transformation of butenolides was first achieved by Chen's group. 83 Since then, the application of butenolides has increasingly drawn attention.…”