Total synthesis of panicein A2

Abstract

The first total synthesis of the unusual aromatic sesquiterpene panicein A2 is reported and the structure of the natural product has been confirmed. When tested by the NCI against a range of human cancer cell lines, it was found that panicein A2 exhibits very little antiproliferative activity at 10 μM - an observation that is at odds with the earlier report that stated panicein A2 exhibits in vitro cytotoxicity against a number of tumour cell lines.