Scientists Achieve First Total Synthesis of Potentially Anti-Rheumatic Sesquiterpene Merillianin

An avenue that scientists are currently exploring for the development of novel pharmaceuticals involves the synthesis of bioactive compounds found in Chinese herbal medicine. This collaborative effort, combining traditional knowledge with modern scientific methods, focuses on pharmaceutically relevant compounds found in medicinal plants for large-scale synthesis. An important compound in this context is merrillianin, a type of illicium sesquiterpene that was isolated in 2002 from the fruit of Illicium merrillianum, a plant that belongs to the same genus as star anise. Illicium sesquiterpenes are naturally occurring compounds which hold promise for treating nervous system diseases. However, merrillianin has a complex structure with a central arrangement of six consecutive stereogenic carbon centers, including three quaternary carbon stereogenic centers, and three rings fused to two carbons. This complexity has posed challenges for the artificial synthesis of merrillianin, leading to limited progress in its practical application since its isolation. <a href="https://tokyouniversityofscience.medium.com/scientists-achieve-first-total-synthesis-of-potentially-anti-rheumatic-sesquiterpene-merillianin-c29b35479247">Click Here</a>