The University of Kansas has long historical connections with Central America and the many Central Americans who have earned graduate degrees at KU. This work is part of the Central American Theses and Dissertations collection in KU ScholarWorks and is being made freely available with permission of the author through the efforts of Professor Emeritus Charles Stansifer of the History department and the staff of the Scholarly Communications program at the University of Kansas Libraries’ Center for Digital Scholarship.Part I. Studies directed toward the total synthesis of 4- demethoxy-a-homodaunorubicin analogs Part II. Biosynthesis of coloradocin; Origin of the carbons Part III. Total synthesis of the naturally occurring prenylated bibenzyl amorfrutin A.