Concise synthesis and antitumor activities of trisaccharide steroidal saponins.

The naturally derived trisaccharide steroidal saponin 1 and structurally modified derivatives 2 and 3 bearing the same sarsasapogenin aglycon were synthesized concisely via a direct transglycosylation strategy. The antitumor activities of the synthetic trisaccharide saponins 1-3 and their corresponding α-isomers 1a-3a were preliminarily evaluated against human gastric adenocarcinoma cell (MKN-45) and human epithelial cervical cancer cell (HeLa) by CCK-8 assay.