Methods for the Esterification of Alcohols and Compounds Useful Therefor

Emory University
posted on 07/07/2009

• request more info 
•   
•  LICENSE ONLINE

Applications

A method for preparing an ester from an alcohol to increase Taxol and Taxol analog production.

Technical Summary

Taxol and other anti-tumor taxoids constitute some of the most important discoveries in cancer chemotherapy in recent years. These drugs have been used to treat advanced ovarian and breast cancer, as well as treatment for non-small-cell lung cancer, head and neck cancer and several others. While Taxol was first isolated from the bark of a pacific yew tree, Taxotere, a semi-synthetic analog of Taxol, possess better bioavailability than Taxol. Due to the limited availability of Taxol from the yew tree (1 Kg from 10,000 Kg of bark), different strategies including total synthesis, semisynthesis, cell and tissue culture have been investigated so that large amounts of Taxol can be produced. At this time, all attempts have led to poor yield of Taxol and a viable alternative to solve the supply problem has not been achieved.

In an effort to overcome these shortcomings, this invention provides a method for a more efficient, high-synthesis yield of Taxol and other similar compounds. This method involves preparation of an ester from an alcohol, which is a precursor to Taxol and its analogs, along with compounds that have a structure similar to Taxol and methods for production.