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The potential presence of N -nitrosamines in medicinal products has become a matter of concern for health authorities and pharmaceutical companies. However, very little information is available in published literature on N -nitrosamine formation within pharmaceutical drug products. In response, experiments were undertaken to test if secondary and tertiary amines present in solid drug products could undergo nitrosation due to the presence of nitrite in the excipients used in the manufacture of the drug product. This work focused on solid dosage forms exploring several model amines of varying chemical structure, solubility and pKa which were formulated using common excipients with and without added nitrite. Monitoring the formation of the N -nitrosamines after processing and upon stressed stability conditions showed that N -nitrosamine formation can occur in solid drug product formulations. The results show that the rate and extent of N -nitrosamine formation depend upon the solubility of the amine, level of nitrite, expected local acidity in water layers within the drug product and mode of processing. Our findings agree with the rank order of dosage form risk from the published EFPIA workflows for quality risk management of N -nitrosamine risks in medicines (EFPIA, 2022): amorphous > wet granulation > direct compression > dry blends. In all cases the level of N -nitrosamine formation in solid dosage forms plateaued at a level that was significantly lower than the maximum theoretical yield based on the level of nitrite present. Trace secondary amine impurities were shown to be a significantly lower risk relative to cases containing a secondary amine present at drug substance levels. A comparison of secondary and simple tertiary alkylamine reactivity showed the tertiary amine to be significantly less reactive with nitrite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A telescoped sequence based on metallated enol acetal chemistry allowed the efficient delivery of a ring-closing metathesis (RCM) precursor, which was used to form a cyclooctenone product with a trisubstituted alkenyl group in moderate yield, though a high loading of second generation Grubbs'' pre-catalyst was required. A relay RCM (RRCM) precursor was synthesised to deliver the key alkylidene at a higher rate; the catalyst loading required was high, and increasing the reaction temperature simply resulted in the loss of the cyclising alkylidene by a non-productive cross-metathesis pathway. We were forced to use high dilution conditions to suppress the unwanted CM and secure the cyclooctenone product. The cyclooctenone product could be progressed to analogues of fucose and 6-deoxyidose by UpJohn dihydroxylation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The potential for drug substances and drug products to contain low levels of N -nitrosamines is of continued interest to the pharmaceutical industry and regulatory authorities. Acid-promoted nitrosation mechanisms in solution have been investigated widely in the literature and are supported by kinetic modelling studies. Carbonyl compounds, particularly formaldehyde, which may be present as impurities in excipients and drug product packaging components or introduced during drug substance manufacturing processes are also known to catalyze nitrosation, but their impact on the risk of N -nitrosamine formation has not been systematically investigated to date. In this study, we experimentally investigated the multivariate impact of formaldehyde, nitrite and pH on N -nitrosation in aqueous solution using dibutylamine as a model amine. We augmented a published kinetic model by adding formaldehyde-catalyzed nitrosation reactions. We validated the new kinetic model vs. the experimental data and then used the model to systematically investigate the impact of formaldehyde levels on N -nitrosamine formation. Simulations of aqueous solution systems show that at low formaldehyde levels the formaldehyde-catalyzed mechanisms are insignificant in comparison to other routes. However, formaldehyde-catalyzed mechanisms can become more significant at neutral and high pH under higher formaldehyde levels. Model-based sensitivity analysis demonstrated that under high nitrite levels and low formaldehyde levels (where the rate of formaldehyde-catalyzed nitrosation is low compared to the acid-promoted pathways) the model can be used with kinetic parameters for model amines in the literature without performing additional experiments to fit amine-specific parameters. For other combinations of reaction parameters containing formaldehyde, the formaldehyde-catalyzed kinetics are non-negligible, and thus it is advised that, under such conditions, additional experiments should be conducted to reliably use the model. [Display omitted] • Automated experimental investigation of formaldehyde-catalyzed N -nitrosation of dibutylamine in the presence of nitrite in aqueous solution. • An augmented kinetic model for the solution phase N -nitrosation of dialkyl amines including formaldehyde-catalyzed reactions is presented. • Simulations show that acid-promoted nitrosation mechanisms have significantly greater impact on nitrosamine formation than formaldehyde-catalyzed mechanisms at low formaldehyde concentrations. • Formaldehyde-catalyzed mechanisms become more significant at neutral to high pH in the presence of high levels of formaldehyde, e.g., during certain synthetic or workup steps. • Global sensitivity analysis shows that experimental data should be generated for an amine without available kinetic parameters required to use the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

N -Nitrosamines are a class of indirect acting mutagens, as their metabolic degradation leads to the formation of the DNA-alkylating diazonium ion. Following up on the in-silico identification of thousands of nitrosamines that can potentially be derived from small molecule drugs and their known impurities described in a previous publication, we have now re-analyzed this dataset to apply EMA's Carcinogenic Potency Categorization Approach (CPCA) introduced with the 16th revision of their Q&A document for Marketing Authorization Holders. We find that the majority of potential nitrosamines from secondary amine precursors belongs to potency categories 4 and 5, corresponding to an acceptable daily intake of 1500 ng, whereas nitrosamines from tertiary amine precursors distribute more evenly among all categories, resulting in a substantial number of structures that are assigned the more challenging acceptable intakes of 18 ng/day and 100 ng/day for potency categories 1 and 2, respectively. However, the nitrosative dealkylation pathway for tertiary amine is generally far slower than the direct nitrosation on secondary amines, with a direct nitrosation mechanism suspected only for structures featuring electron-rich (hetero)aromatic substituents. This allows for greater focus towards those structures that require further review, and we demonstrate that their number is not substantial. In addition, we reflect on the nitrosamine risk posed by secondary amine API impurities and demonstrate that based on the ICH Q3A/B identification threshold unknown impurities may exist that could be transformed to relevant amounts of NA. We also demonstrate that the analytical sensitivity required for the quantification of high potency nitrosamines can be problematic especially for high dose APIs. In summary, the regulatory framework rolled out with the latest Q&A document represents a substantial improvement compared with the previous situation, but further refinement through interaction between manufacturers, regulators, not-for-profit and academic institutions will be required to ensure patient access to vital medicines without compromising safety. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports the outcome of an in silico analysis of more than 12,000 small molecule drugs and drug impurities, identifying the nitrosatable structures, assessing their potential to form nitrosamines under relevant conditions and the challenges to determine compound-specific AIs based on data available or read-across approaches for these nitrosamines and their acceptance by health authorities. Our data indicate that the presence of nitrosamines in pharmaceuticals is likely more prevalent than originally expected. In total, 40.4 % of the analyzed APIs and 29.6 % of the API impurities are potential nitrosamine precursors. Most structures identified through our workflow could form complex API-related nitrosamines, so-called nitrosamine drug substance related impurities (NDSRIs), although we also found structures that could release the well-known small and potent nitrosamines NDMA, NDEA, and others. Due to common structural motifs including secondary or tertiary amine moieties, whole essential drug classes such as beta blockers and ACE inhibitors are at risk. To avoid the risk of drug shortages or even the complete loss of therapeutic options, it will be essential that the well-established ICH M7 principles remain applicable for nitrosamines and that that the industry and regulatory authorities keep an open communication not only about the science but also to make sure there is a good balance between risk and benefit to patients. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]