Concerning the thermolability of cholesta-5,8-dien-3β-ol, a sterol that accumulates in blood and tissues in a human genetic developmental disorder

Cholesta-5,8-dien-3β-ol, a sterol fo current biomedical interest, undergoes facile thermal decomposition as its acetate and TMS derivatives to the corresponding derivatives of 19-norcholesta-5,7,9-trien-3β-ol. This finding may be relevant to the reported occurrence of the nortriene in blood of patients with Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome.