The biosynthesis and biomimetic synthesis of merochlorins A and B

The interplay between biosynthetic studies and biomimetic synthesis is discussed in the context of the merochlorin family of marine natural products. Total syntheses of merochlorin A by our group and merochlorin B by the Trauner group are presented alongside the biosynthetic studies of Moore and co-workers. The common theme is the generation of complex polycyclic ring systems by oxidative dearomatization–cyclization cascade reactions.The interplay between biosynthetic studies and biomimetic synthesis is discussed in the context of the merochlorin family of marine natural products. Total syntheses of merochlorin A by our group and merochlorin B by the Trauner group are presented alongside the biosynthetic studies of Moore and co-workers. The common theme is the generation of complex polycyclic ring systems by oxidative dearomatization–cyclization cascade reactions.Henry P. Pepper, Jonathan H. Georg