Synthesis and spectral characterization of 10-hydroxycamptothecin

ORGN 147

Chun-Yan Xu, xucy0643@126.com and Ming-Zhi Huang, xucy@mail.buct.edu.cn. College of Materials Science and Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China
10-Hydroxycamptothecin is a plant alkaloid isolated from the stem wood of the Asian tree, Camptotheca acuminata. This compound has demonstrated significant antitumor activity and less toxicity than camptothecin. It was mainly used in the clinical therapy for lung, uterine, ovarian and head and neck cancers. We now report the synthesis of 10-hydroxycamptothecin, which can be converted from camptothecin through an oxidized reaction followed by a photochemical reaction with the concentrated sulphuric acid as the catalyst. The optimal conditions for the oxidized reaction and photochemical reaction were obtained. The structure of the target compound was characterized by elemental analysis (EA), mass spectroscopy (MS) and infrared spectroscopy (IR). Furthermore, 1D and 2D nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry (NMR) was used for the assignment of 11 quaternary carbon atoms. The results can provide useful information for the preparation of the new derivatives of camptothecin.