Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of the Antimicrobial Natural Product Lipoxazolidinone A

Abstract Natural products have historically been a major source of antibiotics and therefore novel scaffolds are constantly of interest. The lipoxazolidinone family of marine natural products, with an unusual 4‐oxazolidinone heterocycle at their core, represents a new scaffold for antimicrobial discovery; however, questions regarding their mechanism of action and high lipophilicity have likely slowed follow‐up studies. Herein, we report the first synthesis of lipoxazolidinone A, 15 structural analogues to explore its active pharmacophore, and initial resistance and mechanism of action studies. These results suggest that 4‐oxazolidinones are valuable scaffolds for antimicrobial development and reveal simplified lead compounds for further optimization.