Dehydrogenation of Triterpenoid Alcohols in Alkali Melt. A Short Synthesis of the So-Called Jasminol

Abstract

Alkali fusion is a venerable method¹ for the dehydrogenation of simple aliphatic alcohols to give carboxylic acids (Dumas-Stass reaction), and has been used in isolated cases for ketone synthesis from secondary alcohols as well. We report here the results of a study on alkali fusion reactions of some representative triterpenoid alcohols, and show that unique and preparatively useful reactions take place. Our results are summarised in the Table².