Steroidal oxazoles, oxazolines, and oxazolidines

In recent years the interest of this investigator has been attracted to a series of new compounds in which a cyclopentanoperhydrophenanthrene system is condensed with various heterocyclic rings. As was to be expected, the addition of heterocycles to steroids often leads to a change of their physiological activity and the appearance of new interesting biological properties. Since the numerous data on the synthesis and properties of the steroidal oxazoles, oxazolines, and oxazolidines are scattered, this stimulated us to write the present review, in which the literature published up to the end of 1994 is systematized.