Antimalarial peroxides: the first intramolecular 1,2,4,5-tetraoxane

An intramolecular steroidal 1,2,4,5-tetraoxane has been synthesised in six steps starting from methyl 3-oxo-7alpha,12alpha-diacetoxy-5beta-cholan-24-pate. The synthesised 1,2,4,5-tetra-aoxane has moderate in vitro antimalarial activity against P. falciparum Strains (IC50) (D-6) = 0.35 mug/mL: (IC50 (W2) = 0.29 mug/ML).