A new simple and high-yield synthesis of 5α-dihydrotestosterone (DHT), a potent androgen receptor agonist
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Updated: May 17, 2026

Enzymatic Synthesis of Epoxidized Metabolites of Docosahexaenoic, Eicosapentaenoic, and Arachidonic Acids
Published on: June 28, 2019
Puranik Purushottamachar1, Vincent C O Njar
1Department of Pharmacology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201-1559, USA.
Abstract:
We have devised an efficient procedure for the synthesis of 5α-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) (1) starting from 3β-hydroxy-5α-androstan-17-one, providing the product in unprecedented 82% yield. A reported method of using toxic Jones reagent is replaced by milder oxidizing agent (NMO/TPAP) in the synthesis of a key intermediate 17β-[(tert-butyldimethylsilyl)oxy]-5α-androstan-3-one (18). This new procedure is simple, does not require special apparatus/precautions or chromatographic purification in most of the steps.
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