Antitumor antibiotics, literature

In another recent development in aromatic synthesis, the Bergman cydization [7] is beginning to be exploited for preparative purposes. This process has been studied for many years because of its importance with regard to the biological action of several marine antitumor antibiotics such as calicheamicin [58] and because of its interesting reaction mechanism [8]. Now, more and more synthetic applications are beginning to be reported in the literature [59]. 

Rebeccamycin is an antitumor or antibiotic agent isolated from bacteria " and contains a maleimide indolocarbazole framework. The Trp units in this molecule are chlorinated at the C-7 position and a flavin-dependent halogenase was identified as the enzyme that carries out this chlorination (Scheme 10). " There are many other halogenating enzymes known in the literature and these enzymes are responsible for the syntheses of metabolites containing bromine, chlorine, and fluorine. ... 

In the 1930s and 1940s, bismuth formulations were used extensively to treat syphilis, but they have since been supplanted by more effective antibiotics. More recently, bismuth complexes have been examined for antitumor activity, 64 Tiekink compared the literature results for antimony(III), anti-mony(V), and bismuth(III) with the conclusion that Bi(III) was most promising among these possibilities. ... 

Since CHEC-I appeared in 1984, several reviews on specific fused (5,5,6) heterocycles have been published. A review on pyrrolo[l,2-a]indoles has appeared in which the different synthetic approaches leading to this particular heterocyclic assembly have been systematized <86RTC199>. Special interest of the authors in the five most important strategies leading to the pyrrolo[l,2-ajindole skeleton has been shown, of which the greater part is related to the synthesis of the mitomycins, alkaloid-type antibiotics with antitumor activity. The literature cited covered the period from 1978 to the end of 1985. 

---