Comment on "asymmetric syntheses of sceptrin and massadine and evidence for biosynthetic enantiodivergence"

Abstract

Ma et al. (Reports, 10 October 2014, p. 219) report asymmetric syntheses of sceptrin and massadine and, through a stereochemical reassignment, claim to "uncover enantiodivergence as a new biosynthetic paradigm for natural products." We challenge and clarify this claim with relevant examples from the literature of this well-known phenomenon of enantiodivergent congener biosynthesis within the same producing organism.