Due to its complex chemical structure, hypoestoxide cannot be synthesized in the laboratory. However, it is abundant in the leaves of the parent plant, Hypoestes rosea (0.1 % by dry weight of leaves). This is no doubt, a robust natural synthetic process, considering the fact that taxol, a related natural diterpene, is 0.01 % of the yew tree bark which needs up to 20 years for full growth. H. rosea is a hardy shrub which reproducibly provides the natural product of interest, hypoestoxide.

Structure of Hypoestoxide

Hypoestoxide (HE) is a diterpene which features a bicyclo[9,3,1] pentadecane ring system and contains two epoxide moieties, an a,b - unsaturated ketone, an acetylated alcohol group, and seven stereo centers. Compounds containing epoxides and a,b - unsaturated ketones are often associated with alkylator properties and therefore are usually toxic. However, HE is non-toxic based on results from several in-house and independent studies.