Facile synthesis of kwakhurin, a marker compound of Pueraria mirifica and its quantitative NMR analysis for standardization as a reagent

Abstract

The side effects of kwao keur dietary supplements (obtained from the tuberous root of Pueraria mirifica) have recently been reported by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan. To control the quality of kwao keur products, its ingredients need to be maintained by characteristic marker compounds, such as miroestrol, deoxymiroestrol, and kwakhurin (KWA). In this study, we described the facile synthesis of KWA, a marker compound of P. mirifica. Our revised synthetic method produced KWA with shorter steps and higher yield than the reported method. Furthermore, the absolute purity of KWA was determined by quantitative NMR analysis for standardization as a reagent, and its purity was 92.62 ± 0.12%.