Synthesis of Antimicrobial Natural Products Targeting FtsZ:  (±)-Dichamanetin and (±)-2‘ ‘‘-Hydroxy-5‘ ‘-benzylisouvarinol-B

chemical structure: see text. Two natural products have been synthesized using a ZnCl2-mediated benzylic coupling reaction. Both are potent inhibitors of the GTPase activity of FtsZ, a highly conserved protein that is essential for bacterial cytokinesis.