The structurally similar acyltetramic acids tirandamycin, Bu-2313A and streptolydigin exhibit a wide range of biological activity. Tirandamycin and streptolydigin show antimicrobial activity and are inhibitors of DNA-directed RNA polymerase. Also, streptolydigin selectively inhibits terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase from leukemic cells. Bu-21313A has been found to be effective in controlling the growth of anaerobic bacteria, particularly one of the most prevalent strains, Bacteroides fragilis. The goal of this project is the development of an efficient synthetic approach to this class of potentially medicinally important molecules. Our approach takes advantage of the fact that the central seven-carbon fragment of these three molecules is identical. Therefore, our approach is a convergent one, appending the appropriate end pieces to the unique central fragment.
