Naturally Occurring Dimers from Chemical Perspective

We have presented here an overview of the recently reported dimeric natural products and described their possible biosynthesis pathways. Usually, for a class of compounds from similar sources, a general biosynthesis pathway is proposed; a common monomer has usually been indicated as the biosynthetic precursor. Various structural modifications (e.g., oxidation, rearrangement, cyclization, etc.) on the monomer or after dimerization increase the diversity of dimers. In some cases, biomimetic syntheses towards a particular dimer have been realized, thus supporting (figure presented) the proposed biosynthesis pathways. In many others, the biosynthetic pathways are highly speculative. Nature continuously provides unusual dimeric compounds that shall inspire chemists to explore the amazing 'natural' dimerization pathways. © 2010 Verlag Helvetica Chimica Acta AG, Zürich.