Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 2, 2026

Bufadienolide

Bufadienolide is a chemical compound with steroid structure. Its derivatives are collectively known as bufadienolides, including many in the form of bufadienolide glycosides. These are a type of cardiac glycoside, the other being the cardenolide glycosides. Both bufadienolides and their glycosides are toxic; specifically, they can cause an atrioventricular block, bradycardia, ventricular tachycardia, and possibly lethal cardiac arrest.

Last revised
Jul 2, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
341 w
Citations
5
Source
Wikipedia ↗
Bufadienolide
source ↗
Names
IUPAC name
5-[(5R, 8R,9S,10S,13S,14S,17S)-10,13-dimethyl-2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,11,12,14,15,16,17-tetradecahydro-1H-cyclopenta[a]phenanthren-17-yl]pyran-2-one
Identifiers
3D model (JSmol)
ChEBI
ChemSpider
  • InChI=1S/C24H34O2/c1-23-13-4-3-5-17(23)7-8-18-20-10-9-19(16-6-11-22(25)26-15-16)24(20,2)14-12-21(18)23/h6,11,15,17-21H,3-5,7-10,12-14H2,1-2H3/t17-,18-,19+,20+,21-,23-,24+/m0/s1 checkY
    Key: YBPMPRDOWHIVNA-JTSGVHQASA-N checkY
  • InChI=1S/C24H34O2/c1-23-13-4-3-5-17(23)7-8-18-20-10-9-19(16-6-11-22(25)26-15-16)24(20,2)14-12-21(18)23/h6,11,15,17-21H,3-5,7-10,12-14H2,1-2H3/t17-,18-,19+,20+,21-,23-,24+/m0/s1
    Key: YBPMPRDOWHIVNA-JTSGVHQASA-N
  • CC14CCC3C2(C)CCCCC2CCC3C1CCC4c5ccc(=O)oc5
Properties
C24H34O2
Molar mass 354.534 g·mol−1
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa).
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Bufadienolide is a chemical compound with steroid structure. Its derivatives are collectively known as bufadienolides, including many in the form of bufadienolide glycosides (bufadienolides that contain structural groups derived from sugars). These are a type of cardiac glycoside, the other being the cardenolide glycosides. Both bufadienolides and their glycosides are toxic; specifically, they can cause an atrioventricular block, bradycardia (slow heartbeat), ventricular tachycardia (a type of rapid heartbeat), and possibly lethal cardiac arrest.1

Etymology

The term derives from the toad genus Bufo that contains bufadienolide glycosides, the suffix -adien- that refers to the two double bonds in the lactone ring, and the ending -olide that denotes the lactone structure. Consequently, related structures with only one double bond are called bufenolides,2 and the saturated equivalent is bufanolide.3

Bufanolide source ↗

Classification

According to MeSH, bufadienolides and bufanolides are classified as follows:45

References

References

  1. Mutschler, Ernst; Schäfer-Korting, Monika (2001). Arzneimittelwirkungen (in German) (8 ed.). Stuttgart: Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellschaft. pp. 534, 538. ISBN 3-8047-1763-2.
  2. Glitsch, H. G.; Pusch, H.; Zylka, Ch. (1990). "The action of 22,23-dihydrobufalin and other cardioactive steroids on contraction and active sodium/potassium transport of sheep cardiac Purkinje fibres". Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Archives of Pharmacology. 342 (5): 598–604. doi:10.1007/BF00169051. PMID 2090954. S2CID 21474014.
  3. IUPAC Recommendations 1999: Revised Section F: Natural Products and Related Compounds
  4. Bufadienolides at the U.S. National Library of Medicine Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
  5. Cardenolides at the U.S. National Library of Medicine Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
Further reading

Further reading