Natural Products

In the field of natural product synthesis, we are currently focusing on the following targets:

Agelasines

Isolated from the marine Sponge Agelas sp.	Structure of the known Agelasines A Ð F as well as Ageline B	Bioactivities
		Antimicrobial activity Cytotoxic effects Contractive responses of smooth muscles Inhibition of Na,K-ATPase

We have synthesized the side chain of Agelasine E as well as the enantiomer (+) Trixagol isolated from Bellardia trixago (L)

Synthesis of (+)-Trixagol, the Enantiomer of the (-)-Agelasine E the Terpenoid Side Chain.
Bakkestuen, A. K.; Gundersen, L.-L. Tetrahedron 2003, 59, 115-121.

Bellardia trixago (L)

Sage

We have published the first syntheses of Agelasine D and Agelasine E as well as several analogs.

The compounds display broad spectra of antimicrobial activity, including activity against Mycobactreium tuberculosis and patogenic protozoa.

¯ Synthesis of (+)-Agelasine D from (+)-Manool.
Utenova, B. T.; Gundersen, L.-L. Tetrahedron Lett. 2004, 45, 4233-4235.

¯ Synthesis and Antimycobacterial Activity of Agelasine E and Analogs. Bakkestuen, A.
K.; Gundersen, L.-L.; Petersen, P.; Utenova, B. T.; Vik, A. Org. Biol. Chem. 2005, 3, 1025-1033.

¯ (+)-Agelasine D: Improved Synthesis and Evaluation of Antibacterial and Cytotoxic Activities.
Vik, A.; Hedner, E.; Charnock, C.; Samuelsen, ¯.; Larsson, R.; Gundersen, L.-L.; Bohlin. L. J. Nat. Prod. In press.

Asmarines

Asmarines are isolated from marine sponges (Raspaila sp.).

The known structures are shown below. There are structural resemblance between agelasines and asmarines.

No total syntheses of asmarines have been published so far and little is known about bioactivities.

Last updated March 2006, Lise-Lotte Gundersen