Synthesis of Hoodigogenin A, the Aglycone of Hoodigosides Extractedfrom Hoodia gordonii

Hoodia gordonii is a succulent plant (asclepiadaceae family) which grows in the Kalahari desert in South Africa. On a historical point of view, it was claimed that the San people, a Bushmen tribe leaving in the Kalahari desert, were able to make long hunting trips without feeling thursty and hungry after chewing fresh sap from H. gordonii. Therefore, it was claimed that H. gordonii could represent a new help for fighting obesity, which is one of the major health problems in the 21st century. Indeed, in 2014, more than 1.9 billion adults, 18 years and older, were overweight. Of these over 600 million were obese [1].