Biosynthesis of Natural Products Containing Phosphorus

Natural products containing carbon-phosphorus bond (phosphonic esters and phosphinic acids) have found widespread use in medicine and agriculture. As such, natural products are the active components not only of most traditional medicines but also many modern medicines. Furthermore, because the structural diversity of natural products exceeds that readily achievable by chemical synthesis, and synthetic analogs can be prepared with improved potency and safety, natural products are often used as starting points for drug discovery. In fact, natural products are the inspiration for approximately one half of U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drugs. Recent years have seen a renewed interest in the biochemistry and biology of these compounds with the cloning of the biosynthetic gene clusters for several family members. We herein assay the classification and biosynthesis of some natural products containing C-P bond. The current knowledge regarding the metabolic pathways and enzymes involved in the production of a number of natural products containing C-P bond (6-representative examples) was briefly scrutinized.