Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
The active component of the extract, taxol 241, proved to be the most interesting of
more than 110,000 compounds from 35,000 plant species tested [175]. Since that
time, much effort has been directed towards the investigation of total and semi-
synthetic approaches to, and medicinal applications of, this powerful anti-cancer
drug. Some reviews on the chemistry and biology of taxol have been published
[176-178]. Total syntheses were presented, particularly by Holton [179-181] and by
Nicolaou [182] as well as by a report on the latter [183]. Modern, step-saving syn-
theses start from natural products such as pinene, as proposed by Wender [184], or
(S)-(
)-carvone [185]. New transition metal catalyzed reactions are applied to con-
struct the eight-membered B ring of taxol [186].
Phosgenation reactions are applied to a variety of synthetic targets. They play a
þ
O
O
O
OH
O
NH
O
10
11
9
6
12
2´
8
7
C
A
B
O
1´
15
3´
5
3
4
13
O
OH
14
H
1
H
2
O
O
O
O
Taxol 241
