Flufuran, an antifungal 3,5-disubstituted furan produced by Aspergillus flavus link

A 3,5-disubstituted furan, named flufuran, was isolated from a culture filtrate of a strain of Aspergillus flavus obtained from a chestnut compost created in the same orchard. Flufuran was identified by spectroscopic methods, and its structure was confirmed through the preparation of some key derivatives, also used to test the antifungal activity. At a concentration of 0.2 mg/ml, assayed against three Phytophthora species, pathogenic of some forest and agrarian plants, flufuran and especially its acetyl derivative showed significant antifungal activity. Although flufuran appears to be identical to a fungal metabolite isolated previously from some Polyporus spp., its interesting antifungal activity has never been reported before.