A pharmaceutical composition comprising a pharmaceutical diluent and a compound of formula IV wherein R21=H, C1-C20 alkyl, cycloalkyl, alkenyl, aryl, arylalkyl, or alkylaryl, —CH2OR25, —C(O)R25, —CO(O)R25, —C(O)NR25R26, —CH2C(O)R25, or —CH2C(O)NHR25, where R25 and R26 are each independently H, C1-C10 alkyl, cycloalkyl, alkenyl, aryl, arylalkyl, or alkylaryl, optionally containing one or more halogen atoms. R22=—OH, —OR27, —OCH2C(O)R27, —OCH2C(O)NHR27, —OC(O)R27, —OC(O)OR27, —OC(O)NHNH—R5, or —OC(O)NR27R28, where R27 and R28 are each independently H, C1-C20 alkyl, cycloalkyl, alkenyl, aryl, arylalkyl, or alkylaryl, and where R27 and R28 can each optionally contain halogen atoms; R23 and R24, the same or different from each other, are C1-C20 alkyl, cycloalkyl, alkenyl, aryl, arylalkyl, or alkylaryl. Methods of using such formulations for the treatment of cancer, to effect weight loss, to treat microbially-based infections, to inhibit neuropeptide-Y and/or fatty acid synthase, and to stimulate CPT-1.