The synthesis of two marine natural products containing a 3-alkylidene-6-arylidene-2,5-diketopiperazine scaffold by employing two consecutive aldol condensations starting with 1,4-diacetyl-2,5-diketopiperazine is reported. The target compounds contain a phenol or an imidazole group as aryl substituents, respectively, and suitable conditions for the aldol condensation of 1-acyl-3-alkylidene-2,5-dik ...