Combinatorial chemistry in insects: A library of defensive macrocyclic polyamines

Frank C. Schröder, Jay J. Farmer, Athula B. Attygalle, Scott R. Smedley, Thomas Eisner, Jerrold Meinwald

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

67 Scopus citations

Abstract

The pupal defensive secretion of the coccinellid beetle Epilachna borealis is composed principally of a combinatorial library of macrocyclic polyamines. These compounds constitute a previously unrecognized family of natural products, characterized by extremely large-ring lactonic structures derived from a small set of (2-hydroxyethylamino)alkanoic acids. The combinatorial assembly of these simple building blocks generates a high degree of structural diversity, which is further increased by slow, spontaneous intramolecular rearrangement of the macrocycles.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)428-431
Number of pages4
JournalScience
Volume281
Issue number5375
DOIs
StatePublished - 17 Jul 1998

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