Synthesis of Dimeric Steroids Using Cupric Chloride and 1, 3-Dibromopropane

The dimeric steroids have been shown to exhibit such unique characteristics as detergents, medicinal, catalytic and liquid crystal properties that will lead to important applications. New dimeric steroids 1,3 (bicholest-5-enyl-3, 3′-dioxy) propane (5) and 1,3 (bistigmasta-5,22-dienyl-3, 3′-dioxy) propane (6) along with cholesta-4,6-diene (7) and stigmasta4,6,22-triene (8) are synthesized by the treatment of acetic acid and CuCl₂ with 1,3-dibromopropane which is proving to be a good reagent for such dimerizations. The structures (5) and (6) are supported by their physical and spectral properties (IR, ¹HNMR, C¹³NMR and mass) and Rast's method.