This research program of Professor Madeleine Joullie in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania will be supported by the Organic Synthesis Program. The principal investigator will continue her investigations into the synthesis of cyclopeptide alkaloids, and to use the elaborated methodologies for the synthesis of other natural products. Cyclopeptide alkaloids belong to a closely related group of more than one hundred macrocyclic polyamide bases of plant origin. The compounds are primarily composed of simple, natural amino acids linked by amide bonds except for one non-amino acid unit which is a styrylamine portion or derivative thereof. With one exception, all cyclopeptide alkaloids contain a beta-hydroxyamino acid which distinguishes the various families of compounds. There is evidence that these compounds function as ionophores and may be involved in the absorption of nutrients from the soil, especially alkali metal ions. The low natural availability of the cyclopeptide alkaloids makes the development of synthetic routes to this interesting class of compounds desirable.
