Synthesis of novel taxol analogs and evaluation of their biological activities

Two new taxol analogs 6 and 10 have been prepared from baccatin III (1) and taxol (7a), respectively. Like taxol, both compounds were found to promote microtubule formation and stabilization, although they were less active than taxol. Both 6 and 10 exhibited cytotoxicity against J774.2 cells; 6 was 60-fold less active and 10 was 15-fold less active.