Diosgenone → Smilagenone

Participants

Reaction Steps

Diosgenone (500 g) was dissolved in tetrahydrofuran (THF) (2500 ml) at 40-45° C. and inerted with nitrogen. 5% Pd—BaSO4 (reduced) (100 g) was added; the flask was purged with hydrogen and stirred under an atmosphere of hydrogen for ca. 6.5 hours. The flask was cooled to ambient temperature and the catalyst removed by filtration through a pad of Celite (50 g). The solvent evaporated to yield crude smilagenone as a solid residue.

Provenance & Evidence