Synthesis of the cytotoxic phytosphingosines and their isomeric analogues

Abstract A straightforward synthesis of l - lyxo - and l - xylo -phytosphingosine along with their isomeric analogues has been accomplished. The salient features of this approach are the utilization of [3,3]-sigmatropic rearrangements to install a C-N bond and application of a late stage Wittig or OCM reaction to incorporate the hydrophobic chain unit. The final compounds were evaluated regarding their ability to alter both leukaemia and solid tumor cancer cells viability.