Scalable Synthesis of Orthogonally Protected β-Methyllanthionines by Indium(III)-Mediated Ring Opening of Aziridines

Lantibiotics are a class of peptide antibiotics with activity against most Gram-positive bacteria. Lanthionine (Lan) and β-MeLan are unusual thioether-bridged, non-proteinogenic amino acids, which are characteristic features of lantibiotics. In this paper, we report the facile stereoselective synthesis of β-methyllanthionines with orthogonal protection by nucleophilic ring opening of aziridines. This method leads to an expedient access to β-methyllanthionines and allows production of over 30 g of β-methyllanthionine in a single batch.