Reactions of pennogenin and related compounds. IV. Formation of (25R,22′R,25′R)-3β,3′β-diacetoxy-26,22′-epoxy-16,16′-bifurosta-5,20(22),5′,17′(20′)-tetraen-26′-ol from pennogenin diacetate under the action of BF3·Et2O

A new direction of the reaction of pennogenin diacetate with BF₃·Et₂O has been discovered in which a previously unknown dimeric steroid is formed — (25R,22R,25R)-3,3-diacetoxy-26,22-epoxy-16,16-bifurosta-5,20(22), 5,17(20)-tetraen-26-ol, the structure of which has been established as the result of an analysis of IR, UV,¹H and¹³C NMR, and mass spectra. A probable mechanism for the formation of the title compound from pennogenin diacetate is suggested.Pacific Ocean Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Far Eastern Branch, USSR Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok. Institute of Chemistry of Plant Substances, Uzbek SSR Academy of Sciences, Tashkent. Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 2, pp. 202–208, March–April, 1990.