Recent progress in the total synthesis of marine brominated sesquiterpene aplydactone

Aplydactone is a brominated sesquiterpene isolated from the sea hare Aplysia dactylomela. Structurally, it features a complex cage-like skeleton containing a highly strained tricyclic-[4.2.0.0^3,8]-4-decanone system. Its unique structural features have fascinated many synthetic chemists. In this review, the synthetic efforts towards aplydactone in the last five years are summarized in two categories including nonbiomimetic synthesis and biomimetic synthesis based on the core synthetic strategy. These syntheses set a classical and instructive example for the syntheses of other marine natural products.