Betulin Explained

Betulin is an abundant, naturally occurring triterpene. It is commonly isolated from the bark of birch trees. It forms up to 30% of the dry weight of silver birch bark.^[1] It is also found in birch sap. Inonotus obliquus contains betulin.^[2]

The compound in the bark gives the tree its white color which appears to protect the tree from mid-winter overheating by the sun. As a result, birches are some of the northernmost occurring deciduous trees.

History

Betulin was discovered in 1788 by German-Russian chemist Johann Tobias Lowitz.^{[3] [4]}

Chemistry

Chemically, betulin is a triterpenoid of lupane structure. It has a pentacyclic ring structure, and hydroxyl groups in positions C3 and C28.

See also

• Abietic acid
• Stanol ester
• Phytosterols

Notes and References

1. Green. Brian. Bentley. Michael D.. Chung. Bong Y.. Lynch. Nicholas G.. Jensen. Bruce L.. 2007-12-01. Isolation of Betulin and Rearrangement to Allobetulin. A Biomimetic Natural Product Synthesis. Journal of Chemical Education. EN. 84. 12. 1985. 10.1021/ed084p1985. 2007JChEd..84.1985G.
2. Gao. Yuan. Xu. Hongyu. Lu. Zhenming. Xu. Zhenghong. November 2009. Quantitative determination of steroids in the fruiting bodies and submerged-cultured mycelia of Inonotus obliquus. Se Pu . 27. 6. 745–749. 1000-8713. 20352924.
3. Lowitz. J. T.. 1788. Űber eine neue, fast benzoeartige substanz der briken. Crell's Chem. Ann.. 1. 312–317.
4. Król. Sylwia Katarzyna. Kiełbus. Michał. Rivero-Müller. Adolfo. Stepulak. Andrzej. 2015. Comprehensive Review on Betulin as a Potent Anticancer Agent . BioMed Research International. 2015. 584189 . 10.1155/2015/584189 . 4383233. 25866796. free .