Biomimetic syntheses and structural elucidation of the apoptosis-inducing sesquiterpenoid trimers: (−)-ainsliatrimers A and B

Abstract

Ainsliatrimers A and B are two recently isolated complex sesquiterpenoid natural products that display the unprecedented chemical motifs and remarkable anti-cancer activities. The exact structures as well as the mechanism of anti-cancer action for ainsliatrimers A and B remain to be elucidated. Here we report the first concise and biomimetic syntheses of (−)-ainsliatrimers A and B. Our synthetic endeavor ultimately enabled the unambiguous structural assignments for these two stunningly complex trimers. Preliminary biological studies also revealed that ainsliatrimers A and B significantly inhibited cancer cell growth by inducing apoptosis.