Synthesis and biological activity of brassinosteroids fluorinated at C-2

In this paper we report the synthesis of four fluorinated analogues of brassinosteroids in which fluorine was introduced stereoselectively at C-2. The bioactivity of these new compounds was evaluated using the rice lamina inclination test. The results show that two of these analogues elicit high bioactivity, suggesting the involvernent of hydrogen bond interactions between the active brassinosteroids and their cellular receptor. (C) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.