Research Projects

The development of novel antimicrobial agents provides scope to address the threats arising from the multidrug resistance microbial strains. Cleistanthol is a diterpenoid isolated from Cleistanthus schlechteri of the Euphorbiaceae with a low natural abundance. From preliminary biological evaluation, cleistanthol is found to possess interesting antimicrobial and antiviral activity against various bacterial strains. To facilitate comprehensive biological evaluation and for the generation of synthetic analogs, which may show better activity, asymmetric total synthesis of cleistanthol and its analogs is the prime focus of this proposal. The proposed synthetic method will enable the preparation of natural products and its analogs with appropriate quantities and with wide structural diversity. Biological evaluation of this library of molecules would provide the opportunity to identify the most potent antibacterial agents in the future.