Meroterpenoid Pigments from Albatrellus flettii (Basidiomycetes)

The pigments responsible for the blue colour of the North American polypore Albatrellus flettii have been isolated and their structures elucidated by spectroscopic methods. Albatrellin, a dimeric meroterpenoid with a furylbenzoquinone chromophore, is accompanied by its 16‐hydroxy and 16‐oxo derivatives. The latter has recently been described as grifolone B from a Japanese collection of A. caeruleoporus . Based on the idea that albatrellin is formed in nature by oxidative coupling of a grifolinquinone with the furan derivative cristatin, the blue pigment was synthesized in vitro. The reaction could be applied to the synthesis of several analogues.(© Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2007)