Platensimycin (1a) and platencin (2) are inhibitors of FabF and FabF/H bacterial fatty acid synthase. The discovery of natural congeners is an approach that can render a better understanding of the structure-function relationships of complex natural products. The isolation and structure elucidation of nine new congeners (11-20) of platensimycin and platencin are described from a fermentation broth of Streptomyces platensis. These hydroxylated congeners are likely derived by cytochrome P450 oxidation of the terpenoid units post-cyclization. Polar groups in the terpenoid portion of the molecule produce negative interactions with the hydrophobic pocket of FabF, resulting in poor activities. However, the discovery of these compounds serves an important purpose, not only to understand structure-function relationships, which cannot be easily accessed by chemical modification, but also to provide access to compounds that could be used for structural identification/confirmation of the oxidative trace metabolites produced in vivo during animal experiments.

Platensimycin and platencin are inhibitors of FabF and FabF/H bacterial fatty acid synthesis enzymes, respectively. Discovery of natural congeners provides one of the ways to understand the relationship of chemical structure and biological function. Efforts to discover the natural analogs of platensimycin by chemical screening led to the isolation of platensimycin B 4 , a glucoside congener of platensimycin. This analog showed significantly attenuated activity and critically defined the limited binding space around the aromatic ring and established the importance of the free phenolic and carboxyl group for the activity.

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