Progress towards the total syntheses of Lycopodium alkaloid, lycopladine A

Abstract

A number of alkaloids derived from discrete Lycopodium species holds the proficiency to treat Alzheimer's disease and to increase the efficiency of learning and memory in animals. Thus, Lycopodium alkaloids bearing amazingly unique hetero-polycyclic ring scaffolds persuades the scientists to look upon its biogenetic and biosynthetic pathways and to design its ambitious total syntheses. Fairly recently, a C16N type Lycopodium alkaloid, (+)-lycopladine A; isolated from the club moss Lycopodium complanatum, decoded selective but modest cytotoxicity towards murine lymphoma L1210 cells (IC50 7 microgram/mL). Owing to its dense array of stereochemical features, as well as intriguing biological activity, lycopladine A has become a challenging synthetic target for last 12 years. An overview of the synthetic studies of lycopladine A is presented, covering literature from 2006 till March 2019.