22-Deoxy-20-hydroxyecdysone and its phosphoric ester from ovaries of the silkworm, Bombyx mori

Abstract A principal unidentified compound in the free ecdysteroid fraction and its conjugated form were purified from c.3 kg of ovaries of the silkworm, Bombyx mori , mainly by means of thin-layer chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography. The purified compounds were identified as 22-deoxy-20-hydroxyecdysone (22d20E) and 22-deoxy-20-hydroxyecdysone 3-phosphate (22d20E3P) by means of mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Although 22d20E had previously been isolated from the leaves and stems of the yew tree, Taxus cuspidata , and from the whole bodies of the sea spider, Pycnogonum litorale , it had not yet been obtained from insect ovaries. 22D20E3P was newly identified in the present study.