Synthesis of oleanolic acid saponins mimicking components of Chinese folk medicine Di Wu

3,28-Di-O-rhamnosylated oleanolic acid saponins, mimicking components of Chinese folk medicine Di Wu, have been designed and synthesized. One-pot glycosylation and ‘inverse procedure’ technologies have been applied thus significantly simplifying the preparation of desired saponins. The cytotoxic activity of compounds 3-O-α-l-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→2)-β-d-xylopyranosyl]oleanolic acid 28-O-α-l-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→4)-β-d-glucopyranosyl-(1→6)-β-d-glucopyranosyl] ester (3), 3-O-α-l-rhamnopyranosyl]oleanolic acid 28-O-α-l-rhamnopyranosyl- (1→4)-β-d-glucopyranosyl-(1→6)-β-d-glucopyranosyl] ester (4), 3-O-α-l-rhamnopyranosyl]oleanolic acid 28-O-α-l-rhamnopyranosyl] ester (5), and 3-O-α-l-rhamnopyranosyl]oleanolic acid 28-O-6-O-(α-l-rhamnopyranosyl)hexyl] ester (6) was preliminarily evaluated against HL-60 human promyelocytic leukemia cells. The natural saponin 3 and designed saponin 4 exhibited comparable moderate cytotoxic activity under our testing conditions.