Improved reaction conditions have been developed for a telescoped Miyaura borylation/Suzuki coupling process, which is utilized in the synthesis of an abemaciclib intermediate. Key improvements include the in situ generation of a lipophilic base and tailored ligand selection for each palladium-catalyzed step. Optimizing ligand choice significantly reduced aryl scrambling, a major source of impurities in the borylation step. Additionally, the process improvements led to shortened reaction times and lower palladium loadings, resulting in a more efficient, higher-yielding process.
(R)-1-(2,5-Difluoropyridin-3-yl)ethyl(1-methyl-4-(5-(2-(trifluoromethyl)pyrimidine-5-carboxamido)pyridin-2-yl)-1H-1,2,3-triazol-5-yl)carbamate (GS-2278) is a lysophosphatidic acid receptor 1 antagonist under development for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. GS-2278 is assembled in a 9-step sequence. Initially, 2-bromo-5-fluoropyridine is metalated and trapped with ethyl difluoroacetate. Then, after condensation with tosyl hydrazide, Sakai cyclization with methylamine, and carboxylation with carbon dioxide, the triazole carboxylic acid core is generated. For the final assembly, the core is elaborated through a two-step hydroxamic acid formation and Lossen rearrangement to form an isocyanate which is trapped in situ by a chiral alcohol. The resulting carbamate is Boc-deprotected and subjected to amide coupling with a pyrimidine carboxylic acid to yield the active pharmaceutical ingredient. Process development was conducted to determine reaction and isolation conditions to enable scale-ups to support preclinical and early clinical studies. This paper focuses on the development of conditions from the medicinal chemistry route to the Ph 1 manufacturing route.
A commercial process for vepdegestrant (1), the most advanced PROTAC protein degrader in human clinical trials, has been developed to support clinical and commercial needs. The process features an efficient convergent synthetic strategy through the final reductive amination of two advanced chiral intermediates, as well as several highly efficient telescoped processes and robust crystallization for purity control. The final commercial process of vepdegestrant (1) consists of seven proposed regulatory GMP steps with five isolations in an overall yield of 29%.
Drug resistance to tuberculosis is still one of the major challenges worldwide. Clofazimine, which belongs to the riminophenazine (antibiotic) class, is still one of the active drugs that are efficient against drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Apart from this, it is also a WHO-approved drug for the treatment of leprosy and, at present, is under phase 2 clinical trial for its activity against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Owing to its vast importance in clinical research, we have developed a semicontinuous flow-mediated synthesis of Clofazimine using readily available p-chloroaniline and 1-fluoro-2-nitrobenzene. The target drug molecule was obtained from four consecutive chemical transformations with nominal residence time, improved purity, and yields when compared to the batch process. Moreover, the first two steps were also successfully telescoped under the optimized reaction conditions.
Sodium 5,5′-azotetrazolate (Na2AzT) is a starting material for various azotetrazole salts that find applications as lead-free primary explosives or high-nitrogen compounds for inflating safety systems (in particular, guanidinium azotetrazolate, GZT). Sodium azotetrazolate, after preparation, is commonly isolated as the pentahydrate, which is relatively safe for handling. But it readily loses hydrate water molecules at higher temperatures or by treatment with organic solvents. In such cases, sensitivity to mechanical stimuli increases considerably and explosion accidents may occur. In this work, the thermal conditions and the role of solvents in water loss from sodium 5,5′-azotetrazolate pentahydrate are presented. Impact and friction sensitivity parameters of the products are described. In the case of guanidinium azotetrazolate, the process for its preparation without producing sodium 5,5′-azotetrazolate is introduced, thus avoiding manipulation of hazardous material and increasing the safety of the procedure.
A novel visible-light-induced hydrodesulfurization of a thioacetal was developed. The reaction operates under mild conditions using user-friendly tris(trimethylsilyl)silane as the reductant and a low catalyst loading of photoactive 4CzIPN. The expansion of the reaction scope was thwarted by the operationally hazardous nature of the process, occasionally producing fire. Careful examination of reaction mixtures allowed to identify silane (SiH4) as the likely culprit causing the pyrophoricity.
This work details the removal of an azine-dimer (AD) impurity from 7-dehydrocholesterol (DHC), a precursor of vitamin D3, using a newly developed, sustainable hybrid membrane process, from the idea to implementation. Developed by an international team collaborating under tight time frame and COVID restrictions, this innovative method exemplifies a versatile, energy-saving, and cost-effective separation technology by organic solvent nanofiltration (OSN). Traditional purification methods proved to be unsuccessful, costly, or unsustainable, but this process achieved DHC purification with a minimal yield loss of 0.1%. This separation challenge goes beyond typical OSN applications (solute concentration or solvent exchange) by separating two similar solutes in a solvent mixture. In a three-stage OSN process, the impurity level was reduced from approximately 2600 ppm to below 50 ppm in the final permeate. After developing and scaling up the process, the OSN, precipitation, and filtration units were engineered and constructed. These units were installed in the dsm-firmenich vitamin D3 plant, and the purification process was successfully commissioned.