Nature‐Inspired Chemistry of Complex Alkaloids: Combining Targeted Molecular Networking Approach and Semisynthetic Strategy to Access Rare Communesins in a Marine‐Derived Penicillium expansum

Abstract

AbstractCommunesins are rare alkaloids isolated from fungi of the genus Penicillium. In this work, the extract of a marine‐derived Penicillium expansum strain was studied using targeted molecular networking approach allowing to detect 65 communesins including 55 new ones. A fragmentation pattern for dimethylvinyl communesins was established and a script was implemented allowing to predict the structure and map all communesins in a global molecular network. A semisynthetic strategy was carried out to obtain some minor congeners from the two isolated communesins A and B. Nine communesins were then synthetised: two of them were already described as produced by the studied strain; four are new natural products which occurrence in the extracts was confirmed; three are new semi‐synthetic analogues never described so far. These communesins were evaluated for their cytotoxicity on two human cancer cell lines KB and MCF‐7 leading to a preliminary study of their structure‐activity relationships.