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A chromatography-free, asymmetric synthesis of the C2-symmetric P-chiral diphosphine t-Bu-SMS-Phos was developed using a chiral auxiliary-based approach in five steps from the chiral auxiliary in 36% overall yield. Separtion and recovery of the auxiliary were achieved with good yield (97%) to enable recycling of the chiral auxiliary. An air-stable crystalline form of the final ligand was identified to enable isolation of the final ligand by crystallization to avoid chromatography. This synthetic route was applied to prepare up to 4 kg of the final ligand. The utility of this material was demonstrated in the asymmetric hydrogenation of trifluoromethyl vinyl acetate at 0.1 mol % Rh loading to access a surrogate for the pharmaceutically relavent chiral trifluoroisopropanol fragment in excellent yield and enantiomeric excess (98.6%).

A practical, safe, and efficient process for the synthesis of PDE4 (phosphodiesterase type 4) inhibitors represented by 1 and 2 was developed and demonstrated on a multi-kilogram scale. Key aspects of the process include the regioselective synthesis of dihydrothieno[3,2-d]pyrimidine-2,4-diol 9 and the asymmetric sulfur oxidation of intermediate 11.

A practical, safe, and efficient synthesis of anti-inflammatory cytokine inhibitors was developed and implemented for a number of analogues. A key aspect of the process is an efficient, one-pot, tandem copper-catalyzed azidonation and Huisgen 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition using silyl protected alkynes.

Reported herein is a safe and economical synthesis of methyl 6-chloro-5-(trifluoromethyl)nicotinate, an intermediate in the synthesis of novel anti-infective agents. The key to this process is the trifluoromethylation of an aryl iodide using an inexpensive methyl chlorodifluoroacetate (MCDFA)/KF/CuI system, with an emphasis on the development work which led to this effective process.

The synthesis of LFA-1 inhibitor BIRT2584 on metric-ton scale was accomplished by means of a safe and robust process. Highlights of the process include the asymmetric synthesis of the key advanced intermediate by implementation of Seebach’s self-regeneration of stereocenters principle, and a Ph3PCl2-induced dehydration of a critical urea followed by a regioselective bromination to give the elaborated 1H-imidazo[1,2-a]imidazol-2-one. A sulfonyl chloride intermediate was produced through Br/Mg exchange of iodoimidazole followed by addition to SO2 in THF and subsequent oxidation. In a one-pot operation, the sulfonyl chloride was directly reacted with l-alaninamide using NaOH as base in aqueous DMF/THF to give BIRT2584.

A multistep scalable synthesis of the clinically important hepatitis C virus (HCV) protease inhibitor BILN 2061 (1) is described. The synthesis is highly convergent and consists of two amide bond formations, one etherification, and one ring-closing metathesis (RCM) step, using readily available building blocks 2−5. The optimization of each step is described at length. The main focus of the paper is the study of the RCM step and the description of the main problems faced when scaling up to pilot scale this highly powerful but very challenging synthetic operation. Eventually, the RCM reaction was smoothly scaled up to produce >400 kg of cyclized product.

Herein we describe the development of an efficient, safe and practical process for the synthesis of 7-methoxy-2-(2-amino-4-thiazolyl)quinoline. Our new process allowed for a more convergent approach and eliminates the use of potentially dangerous reagents such as diazomethane used in the previous discovery approach.

Expedient and practical new methodology for the synthesis of substituted imidazoles was developed to provide a rapid access to a variety of 2-substituted, 1,2-disubstituted and 1,2,4-trisubstituted imidazoles by the direct CuCl-mediated reaction of nitriles with α-amino acetals in an intermolecular as well as intramolecular fashion.

An efficient and chromatography-free approach for synthesis of a new class of LFA-1 inhibitors was developed. A copper(I) chloride-promoted intramolecular cyclization of thiohydantoins 7a–b serves as a key step to highly functionalized bicyclic guanidines 5a–b, that were subsequently converted to 1H-imidazo[1,2-a]imidazol-2-one LFA-1 inhibitors. This process has been successfully implemented in the pilot plant to produce multikilogram quantities of LFA-1 inhibitors such as 1a–b.

An efficient enantiospecific synthesis of the cell adhesion inhibitor BIRT-377 by self-regeneration of stereocenters has been achieved in 38% overall yield in eight steps. The key transformations involve the stereoselective formation of the trans imidazolidinone 7, subsequent alkylation, and the efficient hydrolysis of disubstituted imidazolidinone 9. The process is practical, robust, and cost-effective; it has been successfully implemented in the pilot plant to produce multikilogram quantities of the drug BIRT-377 1.

A streamlined and practical approach to 1H-imidazo[1,2-α]imidazol-2-one LFA-1 antagonist (1) that features as the key step a novel intramolecular boronic acid catalyzed cyclocondensation of a urea and an amide is reported.

An improved and cost-effective process for the synthesis of N-aryl-hydantoin LFA-1 antagonists is described. Key transformations include the synthesis and stereospecific alkylation of the trans-isobutyraldehyde-derived template 4, and the one-pot hydrolysis of intermediate 6.

Herein we describe the optimization and application of a copper(I) chloride-mediated protocol for the multikilogram synthesis of 5-bromo-2-cyclopropyl-1-methyl-1H-imidazole hydrochloride (1), a key...

The synthesis of chiral, nonracemic, fully protected α,α-disubstituted α-amino acids via the Beckmann rearrangement of tosylated oximes 1 is described. The desired amino acids were obtained in good yields with excellent enantioselectivities in relatively few steps.

A practical, one-step process for the synthesis of 2,5-disubstituted pyrimidines is presented. The protocol proved to be general for the synthesis of a variety of pyrimidine-containing compounds bearing an assortment of functional groups.

A practical, one-step process for the synthesis of 2,5-disubstituted pyrimidines is presented. The protocol proved to be general for the synthesis of a variety of pyrimidine-containing compounds bearing an assortment of functional groups.

The Lewis acid-promoted intramolecular formal [3+2]-atom «cycloaddition» of alkenes with benzylic cations derived from benzylic alcohols and quinone methides affords products in good yield and with remarkable stereoselectivity. Benzylic alcohol 20 affords hexahydrofluorene 36 with three new stereogenic centers in 73% yield as a 10:1 mixture of diastereomers. The scope and limitations of these reactions were explored by varying the substitution pattern on the benzylic cation, the cyclization initiators, and the alkene terminators

The formation of five- and six-membered rings using cyclization reactions terminated by enamides and enecarbamates is described.

The Lewis acid-promoted intramolecular formal [3+2]-atom «cycloaddition» of alkenes with benzylic cations derived from benzylic alcohols and quinone methides affords products in good yield and with remarkable stereoselectivity. Benzylic alcohol 20 affords hexahydrofluorene 36 with three new stereogenic centers in 73% yield as a 10:1 mixture of diastereomers. The scope and limitations of these reactions were explored by varying the substitution pattern on the benzylic cation, the cyclization initiators, and the alkene terminators

A route towards the synthesis of a ranitidine bulk drug product impurity is described. This protocol involves acetyl chloride initiated oxonium ion generation and subsequent trapping to form the corresponding ranitidine dimer ( 1 ). This synthesis allowed for structure verification of the impurity and provided reference supplies for further analytical and toxicology investigations.

The synthesis of chiral, nonracemic, fully protected α,α-disubstituted α-amino acids via the Beckmann rearrangement of tosylated oximes 1 is described. The desired amino acids were obtained in good yields with excellent enantioselectivities in relatively few steps.

A study to reach the diterpenoid (+)-triptoquinone A (3) or its analog (+)-triptinin A (4) via an asymmetric tandem addition to naphthyloxazolines is described. The tandem addition to the chiral dihydronophthalene 6 resulted in a 70% yield of single diastereomer 10. Further manipulation gave the natural products' tricyclic ring system, compounds 20 and 29 via ring-closing metathesis in 90% yield, using the Schrock catalyst. Final assault to the target compounds 3 or 4 fell short due to the failure to either reduce a neopentyl hydroxymethyl group to a methyl or to install the conjugated carboxylic acid present in 3 or 4.

The formation of five- and six-membered rings using cyclization reactions terminated by enamides and enecarbamates is described.