A Photoactivatable Small‐Molecule Probe for the In Vivo Capture of Polyketide Intermediates

Abstract

A photolabile carba(dethia) malonyl N‐acetylcysteamine derivative was devised and prepared for the trapping of biosynthetic polyketide intermediates following light activation. From the lasalocid A polyketide assembly in a mutant strain of the soil bacterium S. lasaliensis, a previously undetected cyclised intermediate was identified and characterised, providing a new outlook on the timing of substrate processing.