Pinitol

Galactosylononitol and galactosyl pinitol A could also substitute for galactinol in the synthesis of stachyose from raffinose (Peterbaur and Richter, 1998; Hoch et al, 1999; Fig. 5.2, equations 10 and 11).

The reader can once more appreciate the lack of suitable language to describe these design principles; the thought process that led to the enantiodivergent synthesis of pinitols was far less arduous than the attempts to verbalize it.

The use of B. spectabilis leaves as an antidiabetic led to the isolation of its hypoglycaemic principle, pinitol, from the leaves (Narayanan et al. 1987). Pinitol was determined to be a methyl ester of chiro-inositol and elucidated as 3-O-methyl1,2,4-cis-3,5,6-trans-hexahydroxycyclohexanol.