First total synthesis of marine derived anti-inflammatory natural product (-)-Herdmanine-D enabled by Steglich esterification

An efficient and regioselective route for the first total synthesis of anti-inflammatory marine natural product (-)-Herdmanine-D has been described with an excellent overall yield of 18%. The key feature of the synthetic strategy includes Steglich esterification of regioselectively constructed 6-bromo-5-methoxy-1H-indole-3-carboxylic acid and L-Tyrosine. L-isomer was confirmed through measurement of optical activity. The current strategy paves the way for construction of diverse analogues of the title natural product for drug development.