Prospecting for alternate sources of shikimic acid, a precursor of Tamiflu, a bird-flu drug

Raghavendra, TR and Vaidyanathan, Priti and Swathi, HK and Ramesha, BT and Ravikanth, G and Ganeshaiah, KN and Srikrishna, A and Shaanker, R Uma (2009) Prospecting for alternate sources of shikimic acid, a precursor of Tamiflu, a bird-flu drug. In: Current Science, 96 (6). pp. 771-772.

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Abstract

Shikimic acid, more commonly known by its anionic form, shikimate, is an important intermediate compound of the ‘shikimate pathway’ in plants and microorganisms1. It is the principal precursor for the synthesis of aromatic amino acids, phenylalanine, tryptophan and tyrosine and other compounds such as alkaloids, phenolics and phenyl propanoids2. It is used extensively as a chiral building block for the synthesis of a number of compounds in both pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries3. In the recent past, the focus on shikimic acid has increased since it is the key precursor for the synthesis of Tamiflu, the only drug against avian flu caused by the H5N1 virus4,5. Shikimic acid is converted to a diethyl ketal intermediate, which is then reduced in two steps to an epoxide that is finally transformed to Tamiflu6.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Current Science
Publisher:	Indian Academy of Sciences.
Additional Information:	Copyright of this article belongs to Indian Academy of Sciences.
Department/Centre:	Division of Chemical Sciences > Organic Chemistry
Date Deposited:	11 Mar 2010 07:15
Last Modified:	19 Sep 2010 05:56
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/26104

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