New synthetic approaches of alkyl glycidyl ether as C3-building blocks for molecular design of artificial lipids

Most of lipids derived from natural resources are based on the glycerin molecule. Alkyl glycidyl ether is thought to be one of the most strategically useful C3-building block for lipid molecular design because of the presence of a reactive epoxy bond wherein so many types of nucleophiles can be added to give 1,3-disubstituted glyceryl ether compounds as well known, industrially, the glycidyl ether can be easily prepared by using phase-transfer catalytic (PTC) reaction for (fatty) alcohols. On the basis of our own strategies for glycidyl ether molecular design, alkyl glyceryl ether synthetic ceramide and its polyol-addition derivatives and so on have been produced as key ingredients for surfactants, cosmetics, personal care products and pharmaceuticals. Analogously, cholesteryl glycidyl ether can be produced and in future will be available for molecular design of artificial lipids.