Shikimic acid, the starting material in the commercial synthesis of oseltamivir phosphate (Tamiflu®), was efficiently extracted and isolated from Ginkgo biloba leaves utilizing the ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([bmim]Cl), which dissolves cellulose.

Hydrogenation of over a dozen aromatic compounds, including both heteroarenes and arenes, over palladium on carbon (Pd/C, 1–100 mol%) with H₂‐balloon pressure at room temperature is reported. Analyses using pyridine as a model substrate revealed that acetic acid was the best solvent, as using only 1 mol% Pd/C provided piperidine quantitatively. Substrate scope analysis and density functional theory calculations indicated that reaction rates are highly dependent on frontier molecular orbital characteristics and the steric bulkiness of substituents. Moreover, the established method was used for the concise synthesis of the anti‐Alzheimer drug donepezil (Aricept®).

Desmosine, a crosslinking amino acid of elastin, is an attractive biomarker for diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In this study, the first total synthesis of (+)-desmosine was achieved in 11% overall yield in 13 steps utilizing stepwise and regioselective Sonogashira cross-coupling reactions.

Sesquiterpene lactones (STLs) are natural products that have potent antitrypanosomal activity in vitro and, in the case of cynaropicrin, also reduce parasitemia in the murine model of trypanosomiasis. To explore their structure-antitrypanosomal activity relationships, a set of 34 natural and semi-synthetic STLs and amino-STLs was tested in vitro against T. b. rhodesiense (which causes East African sleeping sickness) and mammalian cancer cells (rat bone myoblast L6 cells). It was found that the α-methylene-γ-lactone moiety is necessary for both antitrypanosomal effects and cytotoxicity. Antitrypanosomal selectivity is facilitated by 2-(hydroxymethyl)acrylate or 3,4-dihydroxy-2-methylenebutylate side chains, and by the presence of cyclopentenone rings. Semi-synthetic STL amines with morpholino and dimethylamino groups showed improved in vitro activity over the native STLs. The dimethylamino derivative of cynaropicrin was prepared and tested orally in the T. b. rhodesiense acute mouse model, where it showed reduced toxicity over cynaropicrin, but also lost antitrypanosomal activity.