Advancement in structure elucidation of natural medium-sized lactones through synthesis and theoretical calculations

Medium-sized lactones are an important class of natural products with diverse biological activities. Unlike conventional organic compounds, these molecules exhibit elevated levels of conformational flexibility. This inherent structural feature occasionally exacerbates the complexities associated with determining their conformation, thereby posing challenges in deciphering their stereochemistry or, in certain instances, leading to incorrect structures. This review highlights specific scenarios in which synthetic studies and computational chemistry have assumed pivotal roles in unveiling the structures of lactones, which have previously eluded definitive elucidation.