An Efficient Method for the Large-Scale Preparation of 3-O-Acetyl-11-oxo-β-boswellic Acid and Other Boswellic Acids

3-O-Acetyl-11-oxo-β-boswellic acid (AKBA), found in incense, is a potent inhibitor of 5-lipoxygenase, p38 and p42 MAP kinase and topoisomerases. Starting from crude extracts from incense, procedures are presented for the efficient large-scale synthesis of AKBA and other boswellic acids (© Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2003)