The family of benanomicin-pradimicin antibiotics (BPAs) is reviewed
exhaustively with respect to its structural, functional, mechanistic and synthetic
aspects. BPAs can be considered a unique class of compounds from the structural point
of view due to the presence of a 5,6-dihydro-benzo[α]naphthacenequinone (DHBNQ)
scaffold attached to a glycan moiety. The mechanism of action is ‘lectin-like’ and
related to the selective recognition and binding to specific mannoside residues located
at the surface of the membrane of fungal and viral pathogens. BPAs are prototype
structures of non-peptidic small-size carbohydrate-binding agents (CBAs).
Keywords: 5, 6-dihydro-benzo[α]naphthacenequinone (DHBNQ), Antibiotics,
Antifungal, Antiviral, Aromatic Polyketides, Atropisomerism, Benanomicin,
Benanomicin-Pradimicin Antibiotics (BPAs), Biosynthesis, Carbohydrate-
Binding Agents (CBAs), Natural products, Pradimicin, Total Synthesis.
