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Updated: Jul 6, 2026

Designed for Molecular Recycling: A Lignin-Derived Semi-aromatic Biobased Polymer
Published on: November 30, 2020
Biosynthesis and function of polyacetylenes and allied natural products
Robert E Minto1, Brenda J Blacklock
1Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, 402 North Blackford Street, Indianapolis, IN 46202, United States. minto@chem.iupui.edu
Abstract:
Polyacetylenic natural products are a substantial class of often unstable compounds containing a unique carbon-carbon triple bond functionality, that are intriguing for their wide variety of biochemical and ecological functions, economic potential, and surprising mode of biosynthesis. Isotopic tracer experiments between 1960 and 1990 demonstrated that the majority of these compounds are derived from fatty acid and polyketide precursors. During the past decade, research into the metabolism of polyacetylenes has swiftly advanced, driven by the cloning of the first genes responsible for polyacetylene biosynthesis in plants, moss, fungi, and actinomycetes and the initial characterization of the gene products. The current state of knowledge of the biochemistry and molecular genetics of polyacetylenic secondary metabolic pathways will be presented together with an up-to-date survey of new terrestrial and marine natural products, their known biological activities, and a discussion of their likely metabolic origins.
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