Although discovered already in the middle of last century, the bottromycins are a unique class of natural products, and a real challenge for all kind of researchers trying to get familiar with them. The structure elucidation was a tour de force and last over 50 years. Synthetic approaches were also painful and it was actually the first and so far only synthesis which confirmed/revised the previously proposed structures. Recent investigations on the biosynthetic pathway indicate that the bottromycins belong to the ribosomally synthesized and posttranslational modified peptides, but that also the biosynthesis does not proceed along the “usual way”. This review will cover the development of bottromycin research from the beginning until today, with a focus on synthetic studies, total synthesis and modifications.

中文翻译：

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博曲霉素的漫漫长路

尽管在上个世纪中叶就已经发现了肉毒杆菌素，但它是一类独特的天然产物，对所有试图熟悉它们的研究人员来说都是一个真正的挑战。结构阐明是一次绝技，持续了 50 多年。合成方法也很痛苦，它实际上是第一个也是迄今为止唯一一个确认/修改了先前提出的结构的合成方法。最近对生物合成途径的研究表明，bottroomycins 属于核糖体合成和翻译后修饰的肽，但生物合成也没有按照“通常的方式”进行。这篇综述将涵盖从开始到今天的博曲霉素研究的发展，重点是合成研究、全合成和修饰。