THE CYCLIC DEPSIPEPTIDE BACKBONE OF THE DIDEMNINS

An X-ray crystal analysis of phi-lactone ,5-dimethyl-1,3-dioxohexyl}-L -leucyl}-L-prolyl}-N, O-dimethyl-L-tyrosine hydrobromide hydrate (1a), C42H66N5O11+.Br-.H2O, was obtained in order to determine the backbone folding of the macrocycle and to compare the results obtained with th ose reported previously for the natural product didemnin B (1b). Some differences were noted in the torsion angles of the two conformers of the hydrobromide salt, denoted (1a) and (1a'). The conformation of (1a ') resembled the conformation of (1b) more closely than did that of (1 a). Certain regions of both crystal backbones were more flexible than those in didemnin B; however, the transannular hydrogen bonds in both (1a) and (1a') were somewhat stronger than in (1b).