SummaryThis review highlights the chemical and biological aspects of natural products containing an oxidized or reduced isoindole skeleton. This motif is found in its intact or modified form in indolocarbazoles, macrocyclic polyketides (cytochalasan alkaloids), the aporhoeadane alkaloids, meroterpenoids from Stachybotrys species and anthraquinone-type alkaloids. Concerning their biological activity, molecular structure and synthesis, we have limited this review to the most inspiring examples. Within different congeners, we have selected a few members and discussed the synthetic routes in more detail. The putative biosynthetic pathways of the presented isoindole alkaloids are described as well.

A highly efficient strategy enabled the asymmetric total synthesis of 15 antifeedant leucosceptroid natural products. The advanced tricyclic core, available in gram quantity, served as the pivotal intermediate for the preparation of norleucosceptroids B, C, F, and G and leucosceptroids A, B, G, I, J, L, and M. Additionally, the bioinspired oxidative transformation of leucosceptroid A to leucosceptroids C, K, O, and P using singlet oxygen supports the hypothesis that leucosceptroids A and B are most likely the biogenetic precursors of all other members of this natural product family.

The first total syntheses of the novel 3,5,5,7-sesquiterpenoids (+)-Echinopine A (1) and B (2) were achieved. Thereby the proposed structures were confirmed, and the absolute stereochemistry was determined. The key features are (1) the stereoselective installation of the vinyl-moiety on the concave side of the bicyclo[3.3.0]octane core via Myers' [3,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement, (2) the finding that the substituent on the C7 position next to the ketone can be epimerized to the desired concave face under basic conditions, (3) the closure of the highly strained seven-membered ring via RCM, and (4) the unusual C2-homologation of a vinyltriflate with a ketene silyl acetal.

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Stachyflin, aureol, smenoqualone, strongylin A, and cyclosmenospongine belong to a family of tetracyclic meroterpenoids, which, by nature of their unique molecular structures and various biological properties, have attracted synthetic and medicinal chemists alike. Despite their obvious biosynthetic relationship, only scattered reports on the synthesis and biological investigation of individual meroterpenoids have appeared so far. Herein, we report a highly modular synthetic strategy that enabled the synthesis of each of these natural products and 15 non-natural derivatives. The route employs an auxiliary-controlled Diels–Alder reaction to enable the enantioselective construction of the decalin subunit, which is connected to variously substituted arenes by either carbonyl addition chemistry or sterically demanding sp2–sp3 cross-coupling reactions. The selective installation of either the cis- or trans-decalin stereochemistry is accomplished by an acid-mediated cyclization/isomerization reaction. Biological profiling reveals that strongylin A and a simplified derivative thereof have potent antibiotic activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.