Discovery and Biosynthesis of Phosphonate and Phosphinate Natural Products

The P-C bonds in phosphonate and phosphinate natural products endow them with a high level of stability and the ability to mimic phosphate esters and carboxylates. As such, they have a diverse range of enzyme targets that act on substrates containing such functionalities. Recent years have seen a renewed interest in discovery efforts focused on this class of compounds as well as in understanding their biosynthetic pathways. This chapter focuses on current knowledge of these biosynthetic pathways as well as tools for phosphonate discovery.