Salvador Jorge A R, Moreira Vânia M, Hanson James R, Carvalho Rui A
Laboratório de Química Farmacêutica, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade de Coimbra, Rua do Norte, 3000-295 Coimbra, Portugal.
Steroids. 2006 Mar;71(3):266-72. doi: 10.1016/j.steroids.2005.11.002. Epub 2005 Dec 20.
Alpha-hydroxy ketones (alpha-ketols) are present in many compounds with biological activity. Several methods are available for the preparation of alpha-ketols but only a few of them describe the synthesis of steroid alpha-ketols from olefins. In this work, a new system consisting of KMnO(4)/Fe(ClO(4))(3).nH(2)O was used in order to achieve the direct conversion of Delta(5)-steroids to their corresponding alpha-ketols, in high yields. Consideration of the probable reaction mechanism is provided. 2D homo- and heteronuclear correlation NMR spectroscopic techniques were used to assign (1)H and (13)C resonances of some synthesized compounds. This method has potential for the preparation of alpha-hydroxy ketones of biological interest.
