Synthesis of Taxol and Docetaxel by Using 10-Deacetyl-7-xylosyltaxanes.

A mixture of taxols was prepared from 10-deacetyl-7-xylosyltaxanes by three-step reactions: redox, acetylation, and deacetylation. The mixture was separated by column chromatography on silica gel to afford Taxol, Taxol B (Cephalomannine) and Taxol C. The mixture of Taxol B and Taxol C was converted to Docetaxel by Schwartz's reagent. The structures of Taxol and Docetaxel were characterized by HPLC, H-1-NMR, C-13-NMR and MS. This synthetic process has expanded the source of biomass for the chemical semi-synthesis of Taxol and Docetaxel, reduced the production costs, and increased the biomass resource of taxanes.