Simple Synthesis of 17-β-<i>O</i>-hemisuccinate of Stanozolol for Immunoanalytical Methods

• Main Authors: Silvana Casati, Roberta Ottria, Pierangela Ciuffreda
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-04-01
• Series: Molecules
• Subjects: steroids; stanozolol; metabolism; synthesis; anabolic–androgenic steroid
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/25/9/2019

The use of doping in sports is a global problem that affects athletes around the world. Among the different methods developed to detect doping agents in biological samples, there are antibody-based methods that need an appropriate hapten design. Steroids with a hydroxyl group can be converted to the corresponding hemisuccinates. A novel approach to the synthesis of 17β-<i>O</i>-hemisuccinate of the common doping agent stanozolol is described here. Acylation of stanozolol with methyl 4-chloro-4-oxobutyrate/4-dimethylaminopyridine, followed by mild alkaline hydrolysis with methanolic sodium hydroxide at room temperature, gave the simultaneous protection and deprotection of pyrazole-nitrogen atoms. The proposed new synthetic method allows the desired hemisuccinate derivative to be obtained in only two steps, and with a good total yield starting from stanozolol.