SYNTHESES OF DISCODERMOLIDES USEFUL FOR INVESTIGATING MICROTUBULE-BINDING AND STABILIZATION

Discodermolide is a marine natural product reported to inhibit the pro liferation of T cells and exhibit immunosuppresive activity. Total syn theses of the natural antipode of discodermolide and several variants are reported. These studies provide reagents to investigate discodermo lide's recently discovered ability to bind and stabilize microtubules in cells, Retrosynthetically, the polypropionate is divided into three fragments of approximately equal complexity. This modular strategy pr ovides convergency in the synthesis and facilitates the preparation of discodermolide-based reagents.