'Chiral pool' deepens

12 August 1996 00:00  [Source: ICB]

The Rubber Research Institute of Malaysia has developed an economical method for extracting quebrachitol from rubber plants. Quebrachitol - chemically 2-0-methyl-L-(-)-chiro-inositol - could be a useful addition to the 'chiral pool', as the starting point for synthesis of many chiral drugs.

The research is part of an effort to find useful ancillary products from rubber production. The non-rubber part of latex, of which quebrachitol can form up to 23%, is normally regarded as a waste product during rubber production.

Kilogram quantities of pure quebrachitol are now available, and tonnage quantities could be produced.

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