Abstract
Sorangipyranone was isolated as a novel natural product featuring a unique 2,3-dihydro-γ-4H-pyrone scaffold from cultures of the myxobacterial strain MSr12020. We report here the full structure elucidation of sorangipyranone by spectroscopic techniques including 2D NMR and high-resolution mass spectrometry together with the analysis of the biosynthetic pathway. Determination of the absolute configuration was performed by time-dependent density functional theory-electronic circular dichroism calculations and determination of the applicability of the Snatzke's helicity rule, to correlate the high-wavelength n→π* electronic circular dichroism (ECD) transition and the absolute configuration of the 2,3-dihydro-4H-γ-pyrone, was done by the analysis of low-energy conformers and the Kohn-Sham orbitals. Sorangipyranone outlines a new class of a γ-dihydropyrone-containing natural product comprised of malonyl-CoA-derived building blocks and features a unique polyketide scaffold. In silico analysis of the genome sequence of the myxobacterial strain MSr12020 complemented with feeding experiments employing stable isotope-labeled precursors allowed the identification and annotation of a candidate biosynthetic gene cluster that encodes a modular polyketide synthase assembly line. A model for the biosynthetic pathway leading to the formation of the γ-dihydropyrone scaffold is presented in this study.