U.S.-Federal Republic of Germany Cooperative Research: Synthesis of Olivomycin A

该奖项将支持纽约城市大学亨特学院化学系Richard W. Franck教授和德意志联邦共和国明斯特大学有机化学研究所Joachim Thiem教授在有机化学领域开展为期两年的合作研究项目。这项研究的目的是完成奥利霉素a的合成，这是一种抗生素，由连接两个不同糖侧链的所谓苷元中心单元组成。弗兰克教授和他的学生已经开发了一种高效的立体选择性合成苷元。蒂姆教授和他的团队已经制备了两个糖侧链。完成合成需要改进已知的方法或开发一种将糖连接到苷元的新方法，这是这次合作的目标。弗兰克教授和蒂姆教授在合成有机化学方面有互补的专长。通过结合各自的优势，他们期望在实现共同目标方面取得比其他方式可能取得的更快的进展。奥利霉素A的合成是天然产物化学领域的一项重大成就。本文建立的连接敏感和复杂的糖和苷元的方法也适用于该抗生素家族的其他成员和相关化合物的合成，并有助于更好地了解它们的作用机制。

This award will support a two-year cooperative research project in organic chemistry between Professor Richard W. Franck, Department of Chemistry, Hunter College of the City University of New York, and Professor Joachim Thiem, Organic Chemistry Institute, University of Muenster, Federal Republic of Germany. The objective of the research is to complete a synthesis of Olivomycin A, an antibiotic composed of a so-called aglycone central unit linked to two different sugar side-chains. Professor Franck and his students have developed an efficient and stereoselective synthesis of the aglycone. Professor Thiem and his group have prepared the two sugar side-chains. The completion of the synthesis requires the improvement of known methodology or the development of a new method to link the sugars to the aglycone, and that is the goal of this cooperation. Professors Franck and Thiem have complementary expertise in synthetic organic chemistry. By combining their respective strengths, they expect to make much more rapid progress toward their common objective than would otherwise be possible. Synthesis of Olivomycin A would be a significant achievement in natural product chemistry. The methods developed here for joining sensitive and complex saccharides and aglycones could also be applicable to the synthesis of other members of this family of antibiotics and related compounds, and could contribute to a better understanding of their mechanism of action.