Stereochemistry of ulapualides, a new family of tris-oxazole-containing macrolide ionophores from marine nudibranchs. A molecular mechanics study.

A molecular mechanics study of the marine metabolite ulapualide A, which is suggested to have ionophoric properties, has been carried out on various metal chelated complexes in order to predict the stereochemistry of the natural product. The results suggest a stereochemistry for ulapualide A which is closely similar to structurally related marine metabolites, whose stereochemistries have been established by X-ray crystallography and by partial synthesis.