Taxol®, an important anticancer drug, was first isolated in extremely low yield from the bark of the western yew, Taxus brevifolia. The clinical utility of Taxol has prompted a tremendous effort to obtain this complex molecule synthetically. Due to the chemical complexity of Taxol, its commercial production by total synthesis is not likely to be economical.

Another natural product, 10-deacetyl baccatin III, is readily available in higher yield. Several methods have been reported for the synthesis of Taxol by coupling baccatin III and the N-benzoyl-β-phenylisoserine side chain. A new method for the synthesis ofTaxol from baccatin III is reported, and this method is compared with other methods.