Synthesis of 3/?-Acetoxy-7a-aza-B-homo-22a-spirost-5(6)-en-7-one

The modification and enhancement of biological activity [1,2] of steroidal drugs containing nitrogen atom represent one of the most fruitful developments in medicinal chemistry. Voluminous literature [3] is available on azasteroids. However, a limited work is reported [4-8] about the preparation of aza derivatives corresponding to steroidal sapogenins. This prompted us to make an attempt in this direction. We chose the naturally occurring synthon diosgenin as our starting material. Our efforts were directed toward the introduction of a nitrogen atom in the B ring of the parent molecule.