Synthesis of novel 25-hydroxyprotopanaxadiol derivatives by methylation and methoxycarbonylation using dimethyl carbonate as a environment-friendly reagent and their anti-tumor evaluation

We modified 25-hydroxyprotopanaxadiol (25-OH-PPD) with a new low-pollution and environment friendly green organic material dimethyl carbonate (DMC), which yielded 14 derivatives, including methylation and methoxycarbonylation. Compounds 3, 5, 6, 10, 11 and 12 have been demonstrated significant anti-tumor activities for HeLa and DU145 cell lines.120