New Lichen Metabolites: the isolation, synthesis and biological activities of scabrosin esters and related compounds

Lichens produce a wide variety of organic substances which are unique to these organisms. Many of these metabolites are biologically active and some have been developed, or have provided leads, to compounds which have useful pharmaceutical or agrochemical applications. This project is directed at the isolation, structure determination and synthetic approaches to a variety of epipolythiopiperazinediones (ETP) derivatives recently detected in Australian lichens, and to study structure-activity relationships of these derivatives where effectiveness as cytotoxic agents could be usefully exploited.