earticle

영어

Saponins are glycosides of steroids and triterpenes, which exist widely and usually in considerable amount in terrestrial plants and some marine species.1 Numerous saponin extracts from herbal medicinal plants have been applied to treat various human diseases with surprisingly frequent precision, especially in China. Continuous isolation and bioassay of the components have led to the disclosure of many homogeneous saponins possessing significant biological activities. However, little has been known on the structure-activity relationships and the mechanism of action of saponins due to the poor accessibility to homogeneous saponins of various structures in appreciable amounts. This situation calls for chemical synthesis of saponins. The synthesis of saponins requires incorporation of two disparate disciplines of the synthetic chemistry, the synthetic chemistry of steroids/triterpenes and carbohydrates.2 Both disciplines have been the intensive research themes since very early years, however, it was not until 1990s the synthesis of the complex natural saponins became a feasible object and started to attract attention. Here I shall present an account on the total synthesis of natural saponins with potent biological activities. A major concern is the applicability of the contemporary glycosylation and protecting group manipulation protocols on the sophisticated scaffold of steroids and triterpenes.