Several microbial transformations of steroids to 17-keto cortisones through side chain cleavage have been presented in the literature; however, yields and product selectivity in these methods were low. In the present study, some new methods have been identified for the side chain cleavage of prednisolone (1) to form 11-β-hydroxy-1,4-androstadiene-3,17-dione (11-β-hydroxy ADD). Prednisolone upon reaction with zinc chloride in dry THF results in the formation of cleavage product in good yield (76%). 11-β-hydroxy ADD (2) has been formed in moderate yield (60%) under the Reformatsky reaction conditions by reacting with zincate. While performing the Wittig reaction using stable ylides, again results in the formation of compound 2 in good yield (56%). Side chain cleavage of prednisolone was confirmed from the physical and analytical data and similar when compared with the literature reports.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.