Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of the Antimicrobial Natural Product Lipoxazolidinone A

Abstract

Natural products have historically been a major source of antibiotics and therefore novel scaffolds are constantly of interest. The lipoxazolidinone family of marine natural products, with an unusual 4-oxazolidinone heterocycle at their core, represents a new scaffold for antimicrobial discovery; however, questions regarding their mechanism of action and high lipophilicity have likely slowed follow-up studies. Herein, we report the first synthesis of lipoxazolidinone A, 15 structural analogues to explore its active pharmacophore, and initial resistance and mechanism of action studies. These results suggest that 4-oxazolidinones are valuable scaffolds for antimicrobial development and reveal simplified lead compounds for further optimization.

Keywords: antibiotics; cyclization; heterocycles; medicinal chemistry; natural products.