Nicolau et al. of the Scripps Research Institute has found the key to synthesizing Platencin, a molecule exhibiting potent antibacterial activity!
***
Meanwhile, at the University of Michigan, a mysterious bacterial infection has been quietly rippling through the community, leaving its sinister tracks in the form of seriously ill students and faculty.
***
Toiling day and night, the few who are still well have managed to discover that a Gram-positive strain of bacteria with an extensive lipid membrane network, inadvertently imported from the depths of the Amazonian jungle, is the culprit. Professor Koreeda is one of the lucky ones: barricaded in his office with a lifetime supply of 8 oz. Coca-colas, he has managed to effectively avoid the epidemic outside and escape the fatal jaws of the terrible disease!


One morning, Dr. Koreeda comes to a startling insight, upon reading Nicolau et al.’s recent publication. The secondary metabolite, Platencin, shows promise in dual inhibition of the bacterial lipid elongation enzymes FabF and FabH and may hold the key to treating the infection! He quickly contacts the Scripps Research Institute, only to find that sunny California has been struck by the same fate, and that they have no drugs to spare for Michigan.


Realizing the severity of the matter, Dr. Koreeda decides that he must take matters into his own hands. Using Nicolau’s method, he must find a way to synthesize Platencin by searching for information all over campus… before it’s too late.

Follow Dr. Koreeda's footsteps by starting at his homebase, the Chemistry Building!

Nicolaou, K. C.; Tria, G. S.; Edmonds, D. J.; Kar, M. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2009, 131, 15909-15917.