Quercitol

Description

Quercitol is a cyclohexanepentol (a cyclitol), notable for its occurrence, biological roles, and applications in the chemistry and pharmaceutical industries.

Due to its glucose-like structure, quercitol is used as a chiral building block in the synthesis of antidiabetic agents and other bioactive compounds with improved hypoglycemic activity. It serves as a precursor for the synthesis of α-glucosidase inhibitors and carba-aminosugars, which are potential drug candidates. Quercitol can be efficiently produced from myo-inositol using microorganisms such as Agrobacterium or Salmonella, yielding high optical purity and serving as a hypotensive agent and health medicine.