The Paradox of Antimalarial Terpenoid Isonitrile Biosynthesis Explained. Proposal of Cyanoformate as an NC Delivery Vector

Marine sponge diterpenoid isonitriles are exceptional nitrogenous natural products that exhibit antiplasmodial activity. Their biosynthesis presents a biosynthetic puzzle: how do the elements of NC engage terpenyl carbocations in isoprenoid secondary metabolism, and what is the biosynthetic precursor of the NC group? Cyanoformic acid (NC-COOH, <b>B1</b>) is proposed as a plausible delivery vehicle of NC that resolves a paradox in the commonly held proposition that an inorganic cyanide anion, CN^-, terminates terpenoid isonitrile (TI) biosynthesis. DFT calculations of NC-COOH and its conjugate base, cyanoformate, NC-COO^- (<b>B2</b>), support high nucleophilicity at N and explain bond-forming constitutionality: attack at N and formation of an isonitrile over its nitrile isomer. TI biogenesis is compared to the cyanoformamide-containing ceratamines that arise from oxidation of a terminal <i>N</i>-Gly amide precursor. A unifying model links C-NC vs C-CN bond formation and places Gly at the center of both biosynthetic schemes.