Natural products containing a diazo group

Although diazo compounds are probably best known for their involvement as versatile intermediates in modern synthetic organic chemistry, a small number of such compounds also occur naturally. Many of the early examples, such as azaserine, originally isolated in the 1950s, have antitumour properties and consist of modified alpha-amino acids. More recently, other more complex diazo compounds have been isolated from natural sources, and these include diazobenzoquinones, diazonaphthoquinones, such as the SF2415 and A80915 antibiotics, and the diazofluorene-based kinamycins and lomaiviticins. This report will cover the isolation, biosynthesis, biological activity and synthesis of natural products containing a diazo group.