Modular total synthesis of aspidosperma alkaloids

The aspidosperma alkaloids have attracted significant attention from the synthetic community due to both their interesting and synthetically challenging topography as well as biological activity. The latter arguably stems from the anticancer properties and usage of the related vinca alkaloids vinblastine and vincristine. Much of the biological properties of the aspidosperma alkaloids is either speculation based on association with the vinca members above, or due to tests on specific cancer cell lines where cytotoxicity is reported. However, there is an absence of meaningful pharmacology associated with the aspidosperma family. That many of these are also significantly less complex than the vinca alkaloids makes the aspidosperma alkaloids attractive as anticancer starting points. This programme aims to develop a modular synthesis of aspidosperma alkaloids in order to generate libraries of analogues for meaningful SAR charting and pharmacological profiling. This will involve the development of novel catalytic processes to allow a modular synthetic route and simple diversification.