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Organic chemistry

Triumph for unnatural synthesis

Nature volume 474, pages 459–460 (2011)Cite this article

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Nature crafts many molecules from common precursors, but this approach isn't always possible in chemical synthesis. A strategy for synthesizing a family of natural products succeeds by ignoring nature's blueprint. See Article p.461

Polyphenols are a group of structurally diverse compounds found in fruits, vegetables and plant-based food products such as tea, wine and chocolate. Because many polyphenols are antioxidants, they have been acclaimed as natural health-protecting agents, although the benefits to humans have yet to be proven. Nevertheless, some polyphenols have biological activities that make them potentially useful leads in the search for drugs against illnesses such as heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer's disease. Pharmaceutical research has been thwarted, however, by the fact that the most complex polyphenols are available from their natural sources in only limited quantities.

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Figure 1: A synthetic strategy for making resveratrol-derived polyphenols.

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  1. Stéphane Quideau is at the Institut des Sciences Moléculaires (CNRS-UMR 5255), Université de Bordeaux, Institut Européen de Chimie et Biologie, 33607 Pessac Cedex, France.,

    Stéphane Quideau

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  1. Stéphane Quideau
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Correspondence to Stéphane Quideau.

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Quideau, S. Triumph for unnatural synthesis. Nature 474, 459–460 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/474459a

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