Synthesis and biological evaluation of phorbol-resiniferatoxin (RTX) hybrids

Phorboid 20-homovanillates modified on ring C to mimic the constitution and conformation of the ultrapotent vanilloid resiniferatoxin (RTX) and on the AB ring system to suppress the tumour-promoting potential of the terpenoid core were prepared. Several unexpected reactions were discovered, and the structure-activity relationships for this class of vanilloid ligands were expanded.