Dihydroartemisinic acid is the biosynthetic precursor to artemisinin, an endoperoxide containing plant natural product used to treat malaria. The research team of Francis Yoshimoto at UTSA and collaborators: Catherine Wakeman’s lab from Texas Tech University and Luis Martinez’s lab from the University of Florida, showed that an olefinated version of dihydroartemisinic acid aromatizes instead of forming an endoperoxide ring revealing new insights towards endoperoxide formation. They applied this knowledge to the biosynthesis of the aromatic ring in serrulatene. Antimicrobial activities were measured against Staphylococcus aureus and Cryptococcus neoformans with some of their synthesized compounds having MIC values of 12.5 micrograms/mL.
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