Flexible total syntheses of natural products

Natural Products, produced by sponges, bacteria or fungis, are important sources and lead structures for the development of new drugs. Although optimized for a special purpose during millions of years, they are not necessarily optimized for specific applications in therapies. If these natural products show high biological activities, they are generally produced in tiny amounts and therefore straightforward syntheses are required for the production of enough quantities for pharmaceutical applications. The syntheses should be as flexible as possible to allow the generation of derivatives with optimized pharmacological properties.