Recent Advances in the Organic Synthesis of Bioactive Compounds

Dear Colleagues,

The synthesis of natural products is an important application of organic chemistry that has contributed to the development of new synthetic methods and strategies for the preparation and study of the structure as well as reactivity of complex natural products and their derivatives, especially those with high biological activity. The origin of this application could be related to structural elucidation studies, when modern physical and spectroscopic methods were not available, using degradation reactions and the partial synthesis of fragments or, in some cases, the total synthesis of a natural product itself. In addition, these procedures also allow for the establishment of the absolute stereochemistry of optically active compounds.

On the other hand, interest in natural product synthesis has also been related to the fact that many types of important pharmaceutical compounds come from natural products, such as antibiotics and steroid hormones. In addition, other secondary metabolites that play a role in regulating cellular and other biological processes are an incentive for natural product synthesis and the development of small-molecule libraries, as well as ultimately drug candidates based on natural product leads. In this sense, it is important to note that the quantities of natural products available from natural sources are limited. Thus, total or semi-synthesis is required to provide sufficient amounts for further biological characterization, a necessary step to determine if a natural product warrants further exploration as a lead structure for drug development.

For these reasons, interest in the synthesis of natural products has stimulated incredible advances in the development of new synthetic methods and strategies for the synthesis of structurally and stereochemically diverse molecules.

In this Special Issue, we intend to collect original research articles, communications, and review papers that cover the latest news in this field, especially in the context of the development of new synthetic methodologies and approaches to the preparation of bioactive natural compounds.

Prof. Dr. José Justicia
Prof. Dr. Rachid Chahboun
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• natural products
• biological activity
• organic synthesis
• terpenes
• alkaloids
• structural diversity