Lumisterol is a compound that is part of the
vitamin D
Vitamin D is a group of fat-soluble secosteroids responsible for increasing intestinal absorption of calcium, magnesium, and phosphate, and many other biological effects. In humans, the most important compounds in this group are vitamin D3 (c ...
family of
steroid
A steroid is a biologically active organic compound with four rings arranged in a specific molecular configuration. Steroids have two principal biological functions: as important components of cell membranes that alter membrane fluidity; and a ...
compounds. It is the (9β,10α)
stereoisomer
In stereochemistry, stereoisomerism, or spatial isomerism, is a form of isomerism in which molecules have the same molecular formula and sequence of bonded atoms (constitution), but differ in the three-dimensional orientations of their atoms in ...
of
ergosterol
Ergosterol (ergosta-5,7,22-trien-3β-ol) is a sterol found in cell membranes of fungi and protozoa, serving many of the same functions that cholesterol serves in animal cells. Because many fungi and protozoa cannot survive without ergosterol, the ...
and was produced as a photochemical by-product in the preparation of vitamin D
1, which was a mixture of
vitamin D2 and lumisterol. Vitamin D
2 can be formed from lumisterol by an electrocyclic ring opening and subsequent
sigmatropic hydride shift">,7hydride shift.
Lumisterol has an analog based on
7-dehydrocholesterol, known as lumisterol 3.
References
Vitamin D
Sterols
{{steroid-stub