Total Synthesis of (−)-Exiguolide, a Potent Anticancer Marine Macrolide

Abstract

Exiguolide is a marine macrolide natural product, isolated by Ohta and co-workers from a rare marine sponge, Geodia exigua Thiele, collected off Amami-Oshima, Japan. The structural complexity and potent anticancer activity of this natural product spurred the interest of the synthetic chemistry community. This review will focus on total and formal syntheses of exiguolide by Lee, Fuwa, Roulland, Scheidt, Reddy, Song, and Ishihara to illustrate advances in strategies for macrolide synthesis. 4 5 6 7 Haruhiko Fuwa received his B.Sc., M.Sc. and D.Sc. degrees from the