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Vol.
25 No. 4
July - August 2003
Natural
Products
A
special topic issue of Pure and Applied Chemistry,
Vol. 75, Nos 2–3, 2003
The
traditional centrality of natural products in organic chemistry
is reflected in an unbroken series of biennial IUPAC symposia
reaching back to 1960. The riches of nature continue to offer
inspiration and, increasingly, new challenges and opportunities
for discovery and exploitation. This evolving process was
reflected in the scientific program of the 23rd International
Symposium on the Chemistry of Natural Products, held in
Florence, Italy, from 28 July to 2 August 2002, which presented
works devoted to a broad cross-section of traditional subdisciplines,
while also featuring a range of topics such as proteomics,
genetics, and molecular biology.
Overall,
the symposium was an enriching experience for all those who
attended, and undoubtedly a source of inspiration to a large
contingent of young scientists from many countries. It is,
therefore, desirable to share the topicality and relevance
of the event with a wider audience, and this special topic
issue of Pure and Applied Chemistry offers a representative
selection of short reviews and research papers based on the
scientific proceedings. It is hoped that it will serve, not
only as an enduring record of the current state of natural
products research, but also as a signpost pointing to future
challenges and opportunities. This issue is part of an ongoing
project, which seeks to recognize and offer more in-depth
coverage of certain IUPAC-sponsored events featuring new and
emerging themes in all branches of chemical sciences. The
issue was coordinated by Professors J. Bull and Bruno
Botta, chairman of the Conference Organizing Committee.
The
riches of nature continue to offer inspiration and,
increasingly, new challenges and opportunities for discovery
and exploitation.
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The
symposium attracted about 500 delegates from 45 countries,
and the success of the event owes much to an outstanding corps
of international scientists who contributed to a program comprising
13 plenary and 16 invited lectures, supported by 57 oral presentations
and no less than 250 posters. The lecture program offered
diverse coverage of structures and function in life processes,
as well as novel approaches for synthesis of complex bioactive
compounds. The unifying theme of the conference was interdisciplinary
foundations of drug design and synthesis. This theme is encapsulated
in the opening plenary lecture that introduces this issue,
with an account of new therapeutic leads inspired by nature,
and a concluding plenary presentation highlighting the design
and execution of classical and new-generation synthetic strategies
in pursuit of natural and unnatural targets. Biomimetic and
chemoenzymatic approaches recur throughout as a complementary
component of modern synthetic methodology, and exemplify the
rapidly expanding boundaries of the chemistry-biology interface.
New insights into biosynthetic pathways and advances in functional
genomics and proteomics research featured prominently in the
symposium program. They are reflected in some of the presentations
in this collection.
Professor
Paul Wender of Stanford University, California, gave the introductory
plenary lecture and presented a brilliant overview of his
recent research (Inspirations from Nature: New Reactions,
New Therapeutic Leads, and New Drug Delivery Systems). The
following plenary lecture was presented by Professor Gerhard
Höfle, Braunschweig, Germany, and provided new molecular
insight into the important tubulin systems (Semisynthesis
of the Tubuline Inhibitors Epothiolone and Tubulysin). Professor
Gerald Pattenden presented his successful research on cascade
radical processes and Pd-catalysed reactions in natural product
synthesis (Synthetic Studies towards Biologically Important
Natural Products).
Professor
Chi-Huey Wong of the Scripps Research Institute, LaJolla,
CA, USA, presented some of his exciting work on the chemoenzymatic
synthesis of oligosaccrides and glycoproteins and on the design
and synthesis of inhibitors targeting carbohydrate enzymes
and specific RNA sequences associated with bacterial infection,
inflammatory reactions, and cancer metastasis. Professor Michel
Rohmer of the Université Louis Pasteur/CNRS, Strasbourg,
France, presented an overview of his discovery of the mevalonate
independent pathway for isoprenoid biosynthesis.
Professor
Raffaele Riccio of the University of Salerno, Fisciano, Italy,
presented the use of advanced NMR spectroscopy and computational
techniques for structural assignments of complex natural products.
Professor Benito Casu of the Ronzoni Institute for Chemical
and Biochemical Research, Milano, Italy, discussed recent
results on antiangiogenic, heparinderived heparan sulphate
mimics. The final plenary lecture was presented by Professor
Stephen Hanessian of the Université de Montréal,
Canada. In an elegant exposé he elaborated on new and
old challenges in total synthesis from concepts to practice.
The
symposium program reflected the trend that chemistry and biology
fully overlap on a molecular level and that the chemistry
of natural products will continue to be the core topic for
our understanding of life processes and for efforts to utilize
the new scientific knowledge for sustainable development.
These studies will provide a deeper understanding of the chemistry
of life processes and of complex biological and ecological
interactions in nature. The scientific challenges as well
as the possibilities for sustainable utilization of our natural
resources are enormous—we can learn a lot from Mother
Nature.
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last modified 30 June 2003.
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Applied Chemistry.
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