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The Chemistry of Fungi

The Chemistry of Fungi
James R. Hanson
Department of Chemistry, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK

ISBN: 978-0-85404-136-7 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library r James R. Hanson, 2008 All rights reserved Apart from fair dealing for the purposes of research for non-commercial purposes or for private study, criticism or review, aspermitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and the Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003, this publication may not be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of The Royal Society of Chemistry or the copyright owner, or in the case of reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the CopyrightLicensing Agency in the UK, or in accordance with the terms of the licences issued by the appropriate Reproduction Rights Organization outside the UK. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the terms stated here should be sent to The Royal Society of Chemistry at the address printed on this page. Published by The Royal Society of Chemistry, Thomas Graham House, Science Park, Milton Road,Cambridge CB4 0WF, UK Registered Charity Number 207890 For further information see our web site at www.rsc.org

Preface
The diverse structures, biosyntheses and biological activities of fungal metabolites have attracted chemists for many years. This book is an introduction to the chemistry of fungal metabolites. The aim is to illustrate, within the context of fungal metabolites, the historicalprogression from chemical to spectroscopic methods of structure elucidation, the development in biosynthetic studies from establishing sequences and mechanisms to chemical enzymology and genetics and the increasing understanding of the biological roles of natural products. Fungi occupy an important place in the natural world. As non-photosynthetic organisms they obtain their nutrients from thedegradation of organic material. They use many of their secondary metabolites to secure a place in a competitive natural environment and to protect themselves from predation. Fungi are ubiquitous and their activities affect many aspects of our daily lives, whether it be as sources of pharmaceuticals and food or as spoilage organisms and the causes of diseases in plants and man. The chemistry of the fungiinvolved in these activities has been the subject of considerable study, particularly over the last 50 years. Although their ramifications can be large, as in the spread of plant diseases, the quantities of metabolites that could be isolated precluded much chemical work until the advent of spectroscopic methods. Whereas many natural products derived from plants were isolated before the 1960s on ascale that permitted extensive chemical degradation this was rarely the case for fungal metabolites. However, whenever it was possible, interesting chemistry was discovered. This book begins with an historical introduction followed by a description of the general chemical features that contribute to the growth of fungi. There are many thousands of fungal metabolites whose structures are known andit is not the purpose of the book to list them all. There are databases that fulfil this role. The aim is to describe some of the more important metabolites classified according to their biosynthetic origin. Biosynthesis provides a unifying feature underlying the diverse structures of fungal metabolites. Therefore, the next chapters begin with a general outline of the relevant biosynthetic pathwayThe Chemistry of Fungi By James R. Hanson r James R. Hanson, 2008

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Preface

before presenting a detailed description of particular metabolites. Investigations into these biosyntheses have utilized many subtle isotopic labelling experiments. Compounds that are fungal pigments and those that are distinctive metabolites of the more conspicuous Basidiomycetes are treated separately....