Studying on Extraction of Betulin from the White Birch and Synthesis of Betulinic Acid

Betulin and betulinic acid are natural product with antitumor and anti-HIV-1 activity. Betulin can be got by chemical extraction from a lot of plants. Betulinic acid can be synthesized from betulin. In order to get high biological activity compounds with antitumor and anti-HIV-1 activity from the bark of the white birch, the extraction and purification method of betulin was studied; the optimized extraction and purification condition was obtained. The two-step synthetic routes of betulinic acid from betulin were discussed. Betulinic acid was synthesized by oxidizing betulin with Jones reagent, followed by selective reduction with NaBH4. IR, HPLC–MS, H1-NMR were used to identify the structure of betulin and betulinic acid.