2007 Volume 55 Issue 2 Pages 247-250
Oxyfunctionalization of the bioactive terpenoids, ursolic acid acetate (1), oleanolic acid acetate (5), lupeol acetate (12), and kaurenic acid (17), with dimethyldioxirane (DMDO) was investigated. Treatment of the terpenoids with DMDO under mild conditions afforded a variety of oxidation and oxydegradation products to yield naturally occurring and/or novel compounds in one step. After chromatographic separation, the structures of the individual isolated products were determined using spectroscopic methods including several homonuclear (1H–1H) and heteronuclear (1H–13C) shift-correlated 2D-NMR techniques. The inhibitory activity of the terpenoid derivatives against α-glucosidase was investigated and compounds 1, 3, 7, and 9 were found to exhibit potent activity.
