Synthesis and Biological Properties of Prostaglandin Endoperoxides, Thromboxanes and Prostacyclins

Prostaglandins continue to be a major and fast‐developing area of research in the chemical and biological sciences. Increasing evidence has recently prompted some researchers to suggest that the important physiological actions of these hormones are exerted by their unstable arachidonic acid pathway intermediates, the endoperoxides, thromboxanes, and prostacyclin. The importance of these substances in physiology and medicine and the challenge they pose to synthetic chemistry place them in the forefront of chemical and biochemical investigation. Current biological research has greatly benefited by synthetic advances which have made available large quantities of some of these naturally occurring intermediates and several analogs with increased stabilities. Following a brief review of the primary prostaglandins, the present article describes recent biosynthetic developments, partial and total syntheses of prostaglandin endoperoxide analogs, thromboxane B2, and prostacyclins, and the biological properties of these molecules. The physiological action of prostaglandins could be due to three groups of unstable compounds given in the title, according to recent research. Like prostaglandins, they are metabolites of arachidonic acid. Important information is provided by studies on synthetic analogs.