Total Synthesis and Full Structural Assignment of Namenamicin

Namenamicin is a rare natural product possessing potent cytotoxic properties that may prove useful as a lead compound for payloads of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). Its scarcity, coupled with the uncertainty of its full absolute configuration, elevates it to an attractive synthetic target. Herein we describe the total synthesis of the two C7'-epimers of namenamicin and assign its complete structure, opening the way for further chemical and biological studies toward the discovery of potent payloads for ADCs directed toward targeted cancer therapies.