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Updated: Aug 17, 2025

Biosynthesis of a Flavonol from a Flavanone by Establishing a One-pot Bienzymatic Cascade
Published on: August 14, 2019
p-Quinone Methide-Mediated Nonenzymatic Formation of Chalcane-Containing Dimers in Dragon's Blood
Ge Liao1,2, Chengneng Mi1,3, Li Yang1
1Hainan Key Laboratory for Research and Development of Natural Products from Li Folk Medicine, Institute of Tropical Bioscience and Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Haikou 571101, China.
Abstract:
Chalcane-containing dimers are major compounds identified from dragon's blood, the red resin that accumulates in Dracaena trees after injury. The key step for the formation of these dimers was a p-quinone methide (p-QM, 3) mediated nonenzymatic Michael addition. Compound 3 is derived from the spontaneous dehydration of chalcane alcohol-M274 (2). Two dihydroflavonol-4-reductases, discovered in D. cambodiana, reduce dihydrochalcone-M272 (7) to 2. Moreover, the application potential of p-QMs was demonstrated using a 3-like p-QM to synthesize diverse dimeric derivatives.
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