A practical synthesis of betulinic acid

The Potential of Triterpenoids in the Treatment of Melanoma

“…In addition to the extraction procedures (Cichewicz & Kouzi, 2004;Simonsen & Ross, 1957;, several industrial processes were developed to manufacture (Csuk et al, 2006;Krasutsky et al, 2003Pezzuto et al, 2007) betulinic acid (1) from betulin (3), a triterpene far more abundant (up to 30 %) in birch bark (e.g. Betula pendula; Fig.…”

“…This is especially useful in northern European countries, Russia, Canada, where paper mills mostly use birches to produce cellulose pulp and where over 40 tons of birch bark (Krasutsky, 2005(Krasutsky, , 2006 is produced daily, with 6 tons a day being burned as a cheap fuel (5-7 USD per ton; 7-11 MJ/kg). Using birch bark as a cheap source of betulin can provide the industry with a less expensive source of betulinic acid (Csuk et al, 2006;Krasutsky, 2003Krasutsky, , 2006Pezzuto, 2007). With these procedures, there should not be a significant problem with manufacturing betulinic acid (1) on a multi ton scale.…”

An efficient process for the transformation of betulin to betulinic acid by a strain of Bacillus megaterium

“…1b). Earlier studies on chemo-synthetic pathway of betulinic acid mainly focus on the oxidation and reduction at position C-28 of betulin (Csuk et al 2006). However, there are not enough literatures available on microbial transformations of betulin.…”

“…The bio-chemical modifications at positions C-28 of the parent structure of betulin can produce betulinic acid (Fig. 1b) (Yogeeswari and Sriram 2005;Csuk et al 2006;Baratto et al 2013;Bache et al 2014;Csuk 2014). Betulinic acid is commercially produced via chemical synthesis where betulin is used as raw material (Csuk et al 2006).…”

“…1b) (Yogeeswari and Sriram 2005;Csuk et al 2006;Baratto et al 2013;Bache et al 2014;Csuk 2014). Betulinic acid is commercially produced via chemical synthesis where betulin is used as raw material (Csuk et al 2006). Biotransformation is preferred as an alternative route for chemical synthesis because biotransformation does not include large amount of costlier chemicals and leads to green synthesis of high-value fine chemicals (Schwab et al 2013).…”