Cyanosafracin B

China [CN]

Appearance: Solid.

Storage: Powder form should be stored at -20°C, protected from light. Solution form can be stored at -80°C for 6 months and at -20°C for 1 month.

Use in chemical synthesis: Cyanosafracin B is an important starting material for the synthesis of the anti-tumor drug trabectedin (trade name Yondelis). Trabectedin is highly effective against soft tissue sarcomas. Cyanosafracin B shares a similar fused ring structure with trabectedin, simplifying the synthetic route. Starting from cynomolgus oxaliplatin, trabectedin can be obtained in 21 steps with an overall yield of 0.96%. It is also a starting material for the synthesis of compounds such as ecteinascidin ET-743 and phthalascidin PT-650.

Preparation: Cyanosafracin B can be produced by fermenting Pseudomonas fluorescens to produce the antibiotic safracin B. Potassium cyanide is then added at the end of the fermentation to derivatize safracin B and obtain cynosafrac.