
This extensive review by K C Nicolaou and coworkers (Angew Chem Int Ed, 2009, 48, 660-719) covers both old and new antibiotic classes including Tetracyclines, Thiopeptide Antibiotics, Pseudomonic acids, Kinamycin C, Ramaplanin A2, Lysobactin, Abyssomicins and finally Inhibitors of Fatty-Acid Biosynthesis. The focus, as would be expected from the Nicolaou group, is on synthesis of these complex molecules by a variety of routes. Whether any of these will eventually be scalable and commercialised is debatable, since semisynthesis from a fermentation product has traditionally been the industrial method of choice. However the whole review makes fascinating reading for those turned on by natural product chemistry.















