Acetylation of Asiatic Acid and Its Hepatotoxicity Prediction

Abstract

Asiatic acid (AA) is one of the triterpenoids isolated from pegagan (Centella asiatica (L.) Urb.), which has the antiinflammatory activity. The present studies were aimed to synthesize triacetyl asiatic acid (2,3,23-triacetooxy-12-ene asiatic acid) and to predict its hepatotoxicity properties. Acetylation was carried out using acetic acid anhydride and ZnCl 2 as a catalyst, while the hepatotoxicity properties were studied using Accelrys Discovery Studio 2.5 software. The structure was elucidated with IR, Mass and NMR spectroscopic methods. The results showed that the product of synthesis was confirmed as triacetyl asiatic acid, and the yield was 31.79%. The prediction of its hepatotoxicity revealed that triacetyl asiatic acid is less hepatotoxic than AA.