Rainflowlugemine
Rainflowlugemine is a synthetic compound first reported in the early 2020s in a series of studies exploring novel bioactive molecules derived from marine microorganisms. The compound is a small molecule with a complex heterocyclic scaffold that includes a fused pyrrolidine and imidazole core, which is appended to a para-substituted phenyl ring bearing a polar ether side chain. Early synthetic work employed a convergent approach that combined a chloromethylated pyrrolidine intermediate with a protected imidazole derivative, followed by reductive amination to close the bicyclic system. The final product is typically isolated as a white crystalline solid that is soluble in polar aprotic solvents such as dimethyl sulfoxide and methanol, but only sparingly soluble in water.
In vitro investigations have suggested that rainflowlugemine acts as a selective antagonist of the endothelin B