Steroids solubility

This relationship was shown to hold approximately for the steroid solubilities in EVA and polyetherurethane listed in Table I (20). A serai log plot of the steroid solubility (C ) versus steroid melting point is shown in Figure 6. The statistics of a least squares correlation are ... 

With the manufacture and use of steroids in pharmaceutical and contraceptive preparations increasing steadily, the quantities appearing in rivers and other natural waters are beginning to be a cause for concern. A report has now appeared on the identification and estimation of steroids in water. With 500 references, it is a useful source of information on analytical methods. The extent of interference by various cholestane derivatives in cholesterol determinations has been evaluated. Of five methods examined, none is wholly specific to cholesterol. Poor reproducibility in steroid solubility determinations can result from adsorption by filter papers. The g.l.c. retention times of an extensive series of sterols have been measured on four different stationary phases, in order to devise methods for the separation of particular mixtures. Some mixtures of saturated compounds with the corresponding unsaturated A -, A -, A -, A -, or A -sterols could not be separated, but A -, A -, and some dienic derivatives are easily separable from their isomers. The results were applied in the examination of sterols in sunflower and other plant oils. The... 

Quite some examples have been published in recent years (see review [28] and, e.g. [64,65]). Despite the high association constants of the cyclodextrins, there are still some problems in their application as stoichiometric noncovalent binding site. They are mainly connected with the necessity to use very polar solvents and to get the steroids soluble. Komiyama and coworkers [64] used cholesterol as the template and prepared inclusion complexes with P-cyclodextrin which are cross-linked by toluene 2,4-diisocyanate in DMSO. It is shown that first a 1 1 complex with cholesterol is formed and it is assumed that during the imprinting the stoichiometry changes to 1 2 or even 1 3. The imprinted polymer shows double the uptake of cholesterol compared to a control polymer. 

Cholesterol is biosynthesized in the liver trans ported throughout the body to be used in a va riety of ways and returned to the liver where it serves as the biosynthetic precursor to other steroids But cholesterol is a lipid and isn t soluble in water How can it move through the blood if it doesn t dis solve in if The answer is that it doesn t dissolve but IS instead carried through the blood and tissues as part of a lipoprotein (lipid + protein = lipoprotein) The proteins that carry cholesterol from the liver are called low density lipoproteins or LDLs those that return it to the liver are the high-density lipoproteins or HDLs If too much cholesterol is being transported by LDL or too little by HDL the extra cholesterol builds up on the walls of the arteries caus mg atherosclerosis A thorough physical examination nowadays measures not only total cholesterol con centration but also the distribution between LDL and HDL cholesterol An elevated level of LDL cholesterol IS a risk factor for heart disease LDL cholesterol is bad cholesterol HDLs on the other hand remove excess cholesterol and are protective HDL cholesterol IS good cholesterol... 

Bde salts, cholesterol, phosphoHpids, and other minor components are secreted by the Hver. Bile salts serve three significant physiological functions. The hydrophilic carboxylate group, which is attached via an alkyl chain to the hydrophobic steroid skeleton, allows the bile salts to form water-soluble micelles with cholesterol and phosphoHpids in the bile. These micelles assist in the solvation of cholesterol. By solvating cholesterol, bile salts contribute to the homeostatic regulation of the amount of cholesterol in the whole body. Bile salts are also necessary for the intestinal absorption of dietary fats and fat-soluble vitamins (24—26). 

Squalene is also an intermediate in the synthesis of cholesterol. StmcturaHy, chemically, and biogeneticaHy, many of the triterpenes have much in common with steroids (203). It has been verified experimentally that squalene is the precursor in the biosynthesis of all triterpenes through a series of cyclization and rearrangement reactions (203,204). Squalene is not used much in cosmetics and perfumery formulations because of its light, heat, and oxidative instabiUty however, its hydrogenated derivative, squalane, has a wide use as a fixative, a skin lubricant, and a carrier of Hpid-soluble dmgs. 

In Older to improve the poor oral absorption of carbenicillin [4697-36-3] a bpophilic rndanyl ester has been formulated, Geocillin [33331-88-3] (5). Prednisolone [30-24-8] a steroid, is derivatized to its C-21 hemisuccinate sodium salt (6) to make it extremely water-soluble (108). 

Aromatic steroids are virtually insoluble in liquid ammonia and a cosolvent must be added to solubilize them or reduction will not occur. Ether, ethylene glycol dimethyl ether, dioxane and tetrahydrofuran have been used and, of these, tetrahydrofuran is the preferred solvent. Although dioxane is often a better solvent for steroids at room temperature, it freezes at 12° and its solvent effectiveness in ammonia is diminished. Tetrahydrofuran is infinitely miscible with liquid ammonia, but the addition of lithium to a 1 1 mixture causes the separation of two liquid phases, one blue and one colorless, together with the separation of a lithium-ammonia bronze phase. Thus tetrahydrofuran and lithium depress the solubilities of each other in ammonia. A tetrahydrofuran-ammonia mixture containing much over 50 % of tetrahydrofuran does not become blue when lithium is added. In general, a 1 1 ratio of ammonia to organic solvents represents a reasonable compromise between maximum solubility of steroid and dissolution of the metal with ionization. 

The solubility of many steroids in ammonia-tetrahydrofuran-/-butyl alcohol is about 0.06 A/, a higher concentration than has been reported in other solvent systems. Still higher concentrations may be possible in particular cases by suitable variation in the solvent ratios Procedure 3 (section V) describes such a reduction of estradiol 3-methyl ether at a 0.12 M concentration. A few steriods such as the dimethyl and diethyl ketals of estrone methyl ether are poorly soluble in ammonia-tetrahydrofuran-/-buty] alcohol and cannot be reduced successfully at a concentration of 0.06 even with a 6 hour reduction period. The diethyl ketal of estrone methyl ether is reduced successfully at 0.12 M concentration using a two-phase solvent system of ammonia-/-amyl alcohol-methylcyclohexane (Procedure 4, section V). This mixture probably would be useful for any nonpolar steroid that is poorly soluble in polar solvents but is readily soluble in hydrocarbons. 

The general reaction procedure and apparatus used are exactly as described in Procedure 2. Ammonia (465 ml) is distilled into a 2-liter reaction flask and to this is added 165mlofisopropylalcoholandasolutionof30g(0.195 mole) of 17/ -estradiol 3-methyl ether (mp 118.5-120°) in 180 ml of tetrahydrofuran. The steroid is only partially soluble in the mixture. A 5 g portion of sodium (26 g, 1.13 g-atoms total) is added to the stirred mixture and the solid dissolves in the light blue solution within several min. As additional metal is added, the mixture becomes dark blue and a solid (matted needles) separates. Stirring is inefficient for a few minutes until the mass of crystals breaks down. All of the sodium is consumed after 1 hr and 120 ml of methanol is then added to the mixture with care. The product is isolated as in Procedure 4h 2. After being air-dried, the solid weighs 32.5 g (ca. 100% for a monohydrate). A sample of the material is dried for analysis and analyzed as described in Procedure 2 enol ether, 91% unreduced aromatics, 0.3%. The crude product may be crystallized from acetone-water or preferably from hexane. 

The reactions are generally run at room temperature or below. With steroids the product is usually isolated by addition of the reaction mixture to water followed by filtration or extraction. The inorganic product of the reaction, chromium III, is soluble in neutral or aqueous acid solutions and can be removed by washing. When steroidal amines are oxidized, the work-up is usually modified such that the steroid may be extracted from the insoluble basic chromium III salts. °... 

The addition proceeds most smoothly with highly functionalized (more polar) steroids as seen in examples by Bernstein and others. The polar reaction conditions pose solubility problems for lipophilic androstane, cholestane and pregnane derivatives. Improved yields can be obtained in some cases by using dimethyl sulfoxide or t-butanol " as solvents and by using sodium A-bromobenzenesulfonamide or l,3-dibromo-5,5-dimethyl hydantoin (available from Arapahoe Chemicals) as a source of positive bromine. The addition of bromo acetate and bromo formate to steroid olefins has been studied to a limited extent. ... 

Cholesterol is biosynthesized in the liver, transported throughout the body to be used in a variety of ways, and returned to the liver where it serves as the biosynthetic precursor to other steroids. But cholesterol is a lipid and isn t soluble in water. How can it move through the blood if it doesn t dissolve in it The answer is that it doesn t dissolve, but is instead carried through the blood and tissues as part of a lipoprotein (lipid + protein = lipoprotein). 

Lipids are naturally occurring organic molecules that have limited solubility in water and can be isolated from organisms by extraction with nonpolar organic solvents. Fats, oils, waxes, many vitamins and hormones, and most nonprotein cell-meznbrane components are examples. Note that this definition differs from the sort used for carbohydrates and proteins in that lipids are defined by a physical property (solubility) rather than by structure. Of the many kinds of lipids, we ll be concerned in this chapter only with a few triacvlglycerols, eicosanoids, terpenoids, and steroids. 

Cellular functions are controlled by extracellular signals such as hormones, neurotransmitters, odorants, light and other chemical or physical stimuli. Only a few of these signal molecules, e.g., the highly lipid-soluble steroids or thyroid hormones, can diffiise across the... 

Because swelling and consequent bulk erosion induced by the water-soluble salt is not desirable, use of the low-water-solubility, sUghtly acidic salt calcium lactate was investigated (30). By using this excipient it was hoped that a lowering of the pH within the surface layers of the device would take place and release of the drug would be controlled by polymer erosion confined to the surface layers of the device. In these experiments norethindrone was replaced by the currently favored steroid levonorgestrel. 

Precursor and derived lipids These include fatty acids, glycerol, steroids, other alcohols, fatty aldehydes, and ketone bodies (Chapter 22), hydrocarbons, hpid-soluble vitamins, and hormones. 

Bilirubin is nonpolar and would persist in cells (eg, bound to lipids) if not rendered water-soluble. Hepatocytes convert bilirubin to a polar form, which is readily excreted in the bile, by adding glucuronic acid molecules to it. This process is called conjugation and can employ polar molecules other than glucuronic acid (eg, sulfate). Many steroid hormones and drugs are also... 

PNMT catalyzes the N-methylation of norepinephrine to form epinephrine in the epinephrine-forming cells of the adrenal medulla. Since PNMT is soluble, it is assumed that norepinephrine-to-epinephrine conversion occurs in the cytoplasm. The synthesis of PNMT is induced by glucocorticoid hormones that reach the medulla via the intra-adrenal portal system. This special system provides for a 100-fold steroid concentration gradient over systemic arterial blood, and this high intra-adrenal concentration appears to be necessary for the induction of PNMT. 

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