Sustainable methods for the carboxymethylation and methylation of ursolic acid with dimethyl carbonate under mild and acidic conditions.

Ursolic acid is a triterpene plant extract that exhibits significant potential as an anti-cancer, anti-tumour, and anti-inflammatory agent. Its direct use in the pharmaceutical industry is hampered by poor uptake of ursolic acid in the human body coupled with rapid metabolism causing a decrease in bioactivity. Modification of ursolic acid can overcome such issues, however, use of toxic reagents, unsustainable synthetic routes and poor reaction metrics have limited its potential. Herein, we demonstrate the first reported carboxymethylation and/or methylation of ursolic acid with dimethyl carbonate (DMC) as a green solvent and sustainable reagent under acidic conditions. The reaction of DMC with ursolic acid, in the presence of PTSA, ZnCl

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