Christopher P. Ashcroft, S. Challenger, Andrew Derrick
Mar 22, 2003
Citations
0
Influential Citations
18
Citations
Journal
Organic Process Research & Development
Abstract
An efficient and practical synthesis is presented of the pharmaceutically active MMP-3 inhibitor UK-370,106 (1) via an olefination/catalytic asymmetric hydrogenation sequence. Commercially available 5-bromo-2-iodotoluene was converted in two steps to the biarylpropanal equivalent (11), which was reacted with the phosphonosuccinate (10) to selectively afford the trans-β-substituted itaconate (12). Catalytic asymmetric hydrogenation of the itaconate (12) was achieved in good conversion and with 86−96% enantiomeric excess with a range of phosphine-modified rhodium and ruthenium cationic complexes. The resulting enantiomerically enriched 2-alkyl succinate (2) was elaborated to the desired drug substance (1) in two steps. The synthesis benefits from several crystalline intermediates, allowing control of process impurities, and can be operated safely within parameters readily achievable on scale. Investigations into the polymorphic forms of (1) have shown that the compound crystallizes in planar sheets, based o...