Abstract

The active metabolite of vitamin D, 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1), has a wide range of biological activities, making its analogues promising therapeutic agents for the treatment of cancer, psoriasis and osteoporosis. In particular, the stability of the carbonfluorine bond to oxidation has aided in the development of fluorinated vitamin D analogues as catabolism inhibitors. The analogues were synthesized either by classical steroidal approaches or by convergent methods, depending on the sites of fluorination. The incorporation of fluorine has provided numerous advantages for studying the structurally flexible hormone 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 1, including helping to define its molecular mode of actions. Biological evaluation of the fluorinated analogues suggested that fluorine substitution would not only change the metabolism, but also have direct effects on the vitamin D receptor, resulting in compounds with unique activity profiles.