Raspberry ketone

Raspberry ketone is a natural phenolic compound that is the primary aroma compound of red raspberries. It is used in perfumery, in cosmetics, and as a food additive to impart a fruity odor.

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In plants, raspberry ketone is synthesized from coumaroyl-CoA.^[2] But since the natural abundance of raspberry ketone is very low, it is prepared industrially by a variety of methods from chemical intermediates.^[3]

When given to mice in high doses (up to 2% of food intake), raspberry ketone has been shown to prevent high-fat-diet-induced elevations in body weight.^[4] This effect is reported to stem from the alteration of lipid metabolism, increasing norepinephrine-induced lipolysis. Although products containing this compound are marketed for weight loss, this effect has not been demonstrated in humans.

References

1. ^ Catalog of Organics and Fine Chemicals, Acros Organics, 2004/05, page 1250.
2. ^ MetaCyc Pathway: raspberry ketone biosynthesis
3. ^ Tateiwa, J.-I., Horiuchi, H., Hashimoto, K., Yamauchi, T., and Uemura, S. 1994. Cation-exchanged montmorillonite-catalyzed facile Friedel-crafts alkylation of hydroxy and methoxy aromatics with 4-hydroxybutan-2-one to produce raspberry ketone and some pharmaceutically active compounds. J. Org. Chem. 59:5901-5904.
4. ^ Morimoto C, Satoh Y, Hara M, Inoue S, Tsujita T, Okuda H (2005). "Anti-obese action of raspberry ketone". Life Sci. 77 (2): 194-204. doi:10.1016/j.lfs.2004.12.029. PMID 15862604.