Mass spectrometry of sterols. Electron ionization induced fragmentation of C-4-alkylated cholesterols.
The electron impact ionization of C-4-alkylated cholest-5-en-3beta-hydroxysterols has been investigated. The mass spectra of the C-4-alkylated cholesterols contain a number of ions in the high mass region for which analogous ions are not found in the spectrum of cholesterol. Detailed studies of the composition and origin of these ions have been made by high resolution mass spectrometry and analysis of metastable ions. In addition, a large number of isotopically (deuterium and 18O) substituted C-4-alkylated analogues have been prepared to assist in the interpretation of the spectra. The combined results indicate the occurrence of a number of very complex and unusual electron ionization induced fragmentations. Most notable of the findings reported herein concerns the demonstration of the formation of an ion involving loss of the elements of ring A with an intramolecular shift of the oxygen and hydrogen atoms of the hydroxyl function to the charge-retaining species.
Inhibitors of sterol biosynthesis. Synthesis and activities of ring C oxygenated sterols.
The chemical syntheses of a number of C27 ring C oxygenated sterols have been pursued to permit evaluation of their activity in the inhibition of sterol biosynthesis in cultured mammalian cells. Thus, 5 alpha-cholest-7-ene-3 beta, 11 alpha-diol, 3 alpha-hydroxy-5 alpha-cholest-9(11)-en-12-one, and the previously unreported 11 alpha-hydroxy-5 alpha-cholest-7-en-3-one, 5 alpha-cholest-9(11)-ene-3,12-dione, and 3 beta-hydroxy-5 alpha-cholest-9 (11)-en-12-one have been synthesized. The effects of these compounds on the synthesis of digitonin-precipitable sterols from labeled acetate in mouse L cells and on the levels of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase activity in the same cells have been investigated and compared with previously published data on other ring C oxygenated sterols. 5 alpha-Cholest-7-ene-3 beta, 11 alpha-diol was shown to be the most potent inhibitor of sterol synthesis.
Synthesis and biological activity of 5-hydroxy analogs of a-ecdysone
Abstract Two 5β-hydroxy analogs of α-ecdysone — 2β,3β,5β,14α-tetrahydroxy-5β-cholest-7-en-6-one and 3β,5β,14α-trihydroxy-5β-cholest-7-en-6-one were synthesized and their mass spectra obtained. The biological activity of these two compounds was compared with that of the most active synthetic ecdysone analog previously tested in insects, and the presence of the 5β-hydroxyl group generally enhanced the inhibitive activity.