Dammarane sapogenins, their use as anti-cancer agents, and a process for producing same

A process of preparing a sapogenin according to the formula:

• wherein R1 is H;
• or glc, R2 is H or OH, R3 is H or OH;
• and when R1, R2, and R3 are H, there are double bonds at positions 20(21) and 24(25);
• and when R1 is H, R2, is OH and R3 is OH, there are double bonds at positions 20(22) and 25(26);
• and when R1 is glc, R2 is H and R3 is H, there are double bonds at positions 20(21) and 24(25);
• which process comprises:
• producing a ginsenoside extract from plants selected from the group consisting of panax ginseng, panax quinguefol and panax notoginseng, and proceeding according to the following steps:
• (a) mixing the ginsenoside extract with water;
• (b) mixing the ginsenoside extract and water with a short-chain (1-5 carbon) alkali-metal alcoholate solution or a hydroxide-ethanol solution to produce a mixture;
• and
• (c) placing the resultant mixture in a reaction tank so that the resultant mixture can undergo chemical reactions under high temperature and high pressure effective to produce sapogenins therefrom;
• and
• (d) after the reaction is completed, collecting an intermediate product of a mix of gensenosides and sapogenins from the ethanol mixture;
• and
• (e) separating the desired sapogenins from the intermediate saponin-sapogenin mixture by silica-gel-column chromatography.

A process of preparing a sapogenin according to the formula:

• wherein R1 is H or glc, R2 is H or OH, R3 is H or OH;
• and when R1, R2, and R3 are H, there are double bonds at positions 20(21) and 24(25);
• and when R1 is H, R2, is OH and R3 is OH, there are double bonds at positions 20(22) and 25(26);
• and when R1 is glc, R2 is H and R3 is H, there are double bonds at positions 20(21) and 24(25);
• which process comprises:
• producing a ginsenoside extract from plants selected from the group consisting of panax ginseng, panax quinguefol and panax notoginseng, and proceeding according to the following steps:
• (a) mixing the ginsenosides extract with ethanol;
• (b) mixing the extract and ethanol with alkali-metal alcoholates solution to produce a mixture, and
• (c) placing the resultant mixture in a reaction tank so that the resultant mixture can undergo chemical reactions under high temperature and high pressure effective to produce sapogenins therefrom;
• (d) after the reaction is completed, collecting an intermediate product of a mix of gensenosides and sapogenins from the ethanol mixture;
• and
• (e) separating the desired sapogenins from the intermediate saponin-sapogenin mixture by silica-gel-column chromatography.