Diels-Aider Type Natural Products - Structures and Biosynthesis

Abstract

<p> There are a number of natural products which have the structure evolving from the biological Diels-Aider reaction in their biosynthesis. The Diels-Aider type natural products have been found in various sources - microorganisms, plants and marine animals - and, structurally, these adducts belong to polyketides, isoprenoids, phenylpropanoids, alkaloids and mixedbiogeneJic products. However, to date,·there has been no report on the experimental data of the presence of the biological Diels-Aider reaction or the catalyzing enzymes though considerable studies along these lines have been made. </p> <p> In this article the structure and biosynthesis (mainly biogenesis) of Diels-Aider type natural products arbitrarily selected by structural types are described. Major emphasis is placed on biosynthetic studies of natural products in the substrate and enzyme levels, since the first Dials­ Alder enzyme has been found in solanapyrone biosynthesis. Biosynthetic studies of Diels-Aider adducts provide not only further insight into the mechanism of such reaction, but also valuable information for the creation of artificial enzymes such as a catalytic antibody, which will be of great synthetic importance in the future. </p>