Total Synthesis and Structural Confirmation of Epimedonins A and B and Biological Evaluation of Neuritogenic Activity

The total synthesis of epimedonins A and B, two prenylated 2-phenoxychromones isolated from Epimedium koreanum, was accomplished in this study. Since their initial discovery in 2014, the structures of these natural products have been ambiguous, and structural revisions based on spectroscopic reanalysis were proposed in 2018. To resolve this structural ambiguity, an efficient and divergent synthetic strategy was developed to achieve agreement between the synthesized spectroscopic data and the original report. Furthermore, their biological potential was evaluated, revealing that epimedonin A significantly promotes neurite outgrowth in Neuro2a cells, suggesting its therapeutic potential for neuronal differentiation and neurodegeneration.