D.7 - Taxol Flashcards
What is taxol?
It is a drug that is commonly used to treat several different forms of cancer.
Where does taxol occur?
In yew trees but is now commonly synthetically produced.
What is a chiral auxiliary?
It is an optically active substance that is temporarily incorporated into an organic synthesis so that it can be carried out asymmetrically with the selective formation of a single enantiomer.
How is taxol used as a chemotherapeutic agent?
It is used for the treatment of many cancers.
How does the chiral auxiliary form the desired enantiomer?
By attaching to the non-chiral reactant molecule.
How are enantiomers distinguished using a polarimeter?
Pass plane-polarised light through the solution.
An analyser is used to determine the angle of rotation of the plane of the plane-polarised light.
The different enantiomers rotate the plane of plane-polarised light by the same angle but in opposite directions.
