Strobilurins discovery

During the evolutionary process of lead-structure optimization, probably well over 50 000 strobilurin analogues were synthesized by competing industrial fungicide discovery research groups worldwide. Several compound types, and even specific compounds, were made independently at almost the same time. 

Several aspects of strobilurin fungicides, including the natural lead-structures, have already been summarized [2-9]. The elegant path that led to the discovery... 

From the BASF group, a first review concentrated on the discovery of BAS 490 F (kresoxim-methyl), on pharmacophore variations and on structure-activity relationships at the mitochondrial target level [7]. Another paper was focused more on biokinetic features, and their affect on final biological properties [8j. In 1999 a general review summarized the historical evolution from natural products to commercial strobilurins up to trifloxystrobin, and the international R D competition, including some dramatic patent races [9j. Additionally, strobilurins have been reviewed in Russian, Chinese and Indian journals [10-13]. 

An important Rosetta Stone came from the discovery that strobilurin A, oudemansin A and myxothiazol A not only share a common structural feature, namely... 

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