Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology

Skeletal Editing Advances: Oxygen-to-Nitrogen Swap Reprograms Natural Product Activity

- Korean researchers used an oxygen-to-nitrogen atom swap to convert the furan group in natural products into pyrroles, dramatically altering biological activity. - The 15N-labeled limonin analog 15N-LIMO bound metabolic and mitochondrial proteins such as NNT instead of the kinases targeted by parent limonin. - Both limonin and 15N-LIMO showed antifibrotic activity through different mechanisms, with 15N-LIMO acting on mitochondrial redox systems and proving less cytotoxic. - A separate Ritsumeikan team reported a chlorine-guided, room-temperature method that deletes a carbonyl group from hydroxycoumarins to form coumaranones in over 99% yield.