The examination of the catharanthine C16 substituent effects on the Fe(III)-promoted biomimetic coupling reaction with vindoline is detailed, confirming the importance of the presence of a C16 electron-withdrawing substituent, and establishing an unanticipated unique role (> 10-fold) that the C16 methyl ester plays in the expression of the natural product properties. Thus, replacement of the vinblastine C160 methyl ester with an ethyl ester (10-fold), a cyano group (100-fold), an aldehyde (100-fold), a hydroxymethyl group (1000-fold) or a primary carboxamide (> 1000-fold) led to surprisingly large reductions in cytotoxic activity. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.