Saxitoxin (STX) and its analogs are paralytic alkaloid neurotoxins that block the voltage-gated sodium channel pore (Nav), impeding passage of Na⁺ ions into the intracellular space, and thereby preventing the action potential in the peripheral nervous system and skeletal muscle. The marine dinoflagellate Gymnodinium catenatum produces an array of such toxins, including the recently discovered b...

Dispacamide A and new analogs of this marine alkaloid were prepared in seven steps with an overall yield ranging from 12 to 33%. The key step of the strategy was a stereocontrolled Knoevenagel condensation under microwave dielectric heating in the last step. In this condensation, the 2-aminoimidazolin-4-one hydrochloride partners 10a-c were synthesized in three steps with good overall yields (3...

A new stereoisomer of an araguspongine/xestospongin alkaloid, named araguspongine M (1), has been isolated together with 12 known compounds, araguspongines B (2) and D (3), dopamine, three galactosyl diacylglycerols, 24-methyl cholesterol, 5,6-dihydrocholesterol, β-sitosterol, and three 5α,8α-epidioxy sterols (11–13), from the marine sponge Neopetrosia exigua (formerly Xestospongia exigua) coll...

This paper reports an overview on the chemistry of the indole alkaloid goniomitine focusing, mainly, on the methods of synthesis related to this natural product and analogs.

A new synthetic approach to analogs of (þ)-casuarine (2a and 2b), a natural pentahydroxylated pyrrolizidinic alkaloid in a highly stereocontrolled manner, is reported herein. An orthogonally protected polyhydroxylated pyrrolidine, such as (2S,3R,4R,5R)-3,4-dibenzyloxy-20-O-tert-butyldiphenylsilyl-2,5-bis(hydroxymethyl)pyrrolidine [3, protected DGDP (2,5-dideoxy-2,5-imino-D-glucitol)], easily av...

A new total synthesis of the alkaloid variolin B is achieved by a selective and sequential palladium-mediated functionalization of a trihalo-substituted pyrido[30,20:4,5]pyrrolo[1,2-c]pyrimidine. This intermediate is obtained by a new heterocyclization reaction between an appropriate bromomethyl azaindole and N-tosylmethyl dichloroformimide. The methodology may be effective for the synthesis of...

A cell-based high-throughput screen that assessed the cellular stability of a tumor suppressor protein PDCD4 (Programmed cell death 4) was used to identify a new guanidine-containing marine alkaloid mirabilin K (3), as well as the known compounds mirabilin G (1) and netamine M (2). The structures of these tricyclic guanidine alkaloids were established from extensive spectroscopic analyses. Comp...