(+)-Melicolone K

I have never believed that all academic research should have real-world applications. Despite my day job as a process chemist, my sole criterion for picking papers for this column is that they showcase interesting chemistry, practicality be damned. Of course, the authors of these research articles will always remind you of the biological activity of their targets, the large number of drugs that are natural product-derived, or the way target-oriented synthesis can drive the development of new reactions. However, I’d guess that most of the time, total synthesis is done for fun rather than for practical reasons.