A selective and cost-effective method for the reductive deuteration of activated alkenes

Improved Pharmacokinetic and Pharmacodynamic Profile of Deuterium-Reinforced Tricyclic Antidepressants Doxepin, Dosulepin, and Clomipramine in Animal Models

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Doxepin, dosulepin, and clomipramine are tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) that act as serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors. The metabolites formed by N-dealkylation of these tricyclic antidepressants contribute to overall poor pharmacokinetics and efficacy. Deuteration of the methyl groups at metabolically active sites has been reported to be a useful strategy for developing more selective and potent antidepressants. This isotopic deuteration can lead to better bioavailability and overall effectiveness. The objective is to study the effect of site-selective deuteration of TCAs on their pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profile by comparison with their nondeuterated counterparts.

METHODS

In the current study, the pharmacokinetic profile and antidepressant behavior of deuterated TCAs were evaluated using the forced swim test (FST) and tail suspension test (TST), using male Wistar rats and male Swiss albino mice, respectively; additionally, a synaptosomal reuptake study was carried out.

RESULTS

Compared with the nondeuterated parent drugs, deuterated forms showed improved efficacy in the behavior paradigm, indicating improved pharmacological activity. The pharmacokinetic parameters indicated increased maximum concentration in the plasma (Cmax), elimination half-life (t1/2), and area under the concentration-time curve (AUC)  in deuterated compounds. This can have a positive clinical impact on antidepressant treatment. Synaptosomal reuptake studies indicated marked inhibition of the reuptake mechanism of serotonin (5-HT) and norepinephrine.

CONCLUSIONS

Deuterated TCAs can prove to be potentially better molecules in the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders as compared with nondeuterated compounds. In addition, we have demonstrated a concept that metabolically active, site-selective deuteration can be beneficial for improving the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profiles of TCAs. A further toxicological study of these compounds is needed to validate their future clinical use.

Rapid Enantiomeric Excess Measurements of Enantioisotopomers by Molecular Rotational Resonance Spectroscopy

Recent work in drug discovery has shown that selectively deuterated small molecules can improve the safety and efficacy for active pharmaceutical ingredients. The advantages derive from changes in metabolism resulting from the kinetic isotope effect when deuterium is substituted for a hydrogen atom at a structural position where rate limiting C-H bond breaking occurs. This application has pushed the development of precision deuteration strategies in synthetic chemistry that can install deuterium atoms with high regioselectivity and with stereocontrol. Copper-catalyzed alkene transfer hydrodeuteration chemistry has recently been shown to have high stereoselectivity for deuteration at the metabolically important benzyl C-H position. In this case, stereocontrol results in the creation of enantioisotopomers-molecules that are chiral solely by virtue of the deuterium substitution-and chiral analysis techniques are needed to assess the reaction selectivity. It was recently shown that chiral tag molecular rotational resonance (MRR) spectroscopy provides a routine way to measure the enantiomeric excess and establish the absolute configuration of enantioisotopomers. High-throughput implementations of chiral tag MRR spectroscopy are needed to support optimization of the chemical synthesis. A measurement methodology for high-throughput chiral analysis is demonstrated in this work. The high-throughput ee measurements are performed using cavity-enhanced MRR spectroscopy, which reduces measurement times and sample consumption by more than an order-of-magnitude compared to the previous enantioisotopomer analysis using a broadband MRR spectrometer. It is also shown that transitions for monitoring the enantiomers can be selected from a broadband rotational spectrum without the need for spectroscopic analysis. The general applicability of chiral tag MRR spectroscopy is illustrated by performing chiral analysis on six enantioisotopomer reaction products using a single molecule as the tag for chiral discrimination.

Deuterated driven new chemical entities: An optimistic way to improve therapeutic efficacy

In organic chemistry, the use of deuterium exchange as a tool to study the mechanism of chemical reaction has been well explored. Since two decades, the research focus on deuterated bioactive molecules has been gaining attention for investigating the therapeutic potential of deuterium replacement in a chemical structure. Recently, Food Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first deuterium-labeled drug "deutetrabenazine", and notified the deuterated drugs as new chemical entities (NCEs). Henceforth, the deuterium substitution driven structure activity relationship, preclinical pharmacokinetics, and toxicity studies were much initiated. Deuteration of a bioactive molecule often results in improved therapeutic efficacy due to the altered pharmacokinetic profile. This review provides a conceptual framework on the importance of deuterium atom in chemical structure of a drug, and its biological value in improved physiochemical properties, pharmacokinetics, biological target interaction, diagnosis, and toxicity. In addition, this review concisely updated the recent deuteration methods, chemical stability, challenges in drug development, deuterium-based imaging in diagnosis, and selected synthetic scheme of deuterated molecules.

Highly selective catalytic transfer hydrodeuteration of cyclic alkenes

Selective deuterium installation into small molecules is becoming increasingly desirable not only for the elucidation of mechanistic pathways and studying biological processes but also because of deuterium's ability to favorably adjust the pharmacokinetic parameters of bioactive molecules. Fused bicyclic moieties, especially those containing heteroatoms, are prevalent in drug discovery and pharmaceuticals. Herein, we report a copper-catalyzed transfer hydrodeuteration of cyclic and heterocyclic alkenes, which enables the synthesis of chromans, quinolinones, and tetrahydronaphthalenes that are precisely deuterated at the benzylic position. We also demonstrate the ability to place one deuterium atom at the homobenzylic site of these scaffolds with high regioselectivity by swapping transfer reagents for their isotopic analogs. Furthermore, examples of chemoselective transfer hydrogenation and transfer deuteration are disclosed, allowing for the simultaneous incorporation of two vicinal hydrogen or deuterium atoms into a double bond.

Radical deuteration

Deuterated chemicals are becoming irreplaceable in pharmaceutical engineering, material science and synthetic chemistry. Many excellent reviews have discussed acid/base-dependent or metal-catalyzed deuteration reactions, but radical deuterations have been discussed less. With the development of radical chemistry, there has been a rapid growth in radical deuterium-labelling technology. Diverse mild, cheap and efficient strategies for deuterium atom installation have been reported, and this review summarizes the recent achievements of radical deuteration classified by the reaction types.

Recent Developments for the Deuterium and Tritium Labeling of Organic Molecules

Organic compounds labeled with hydrogen isotopes play a crucial role in numerous areas, from materials science to medicinal chemistry. Indeed, while the replacement of hydrogen by deuterium gives rise to improved absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) properties in drugs and enables the preparation of internal standards for analytical mass spectrometry, the use of tritium-labeled compounds is a key technique all along drug discovery and development in the pharmaceutical industry. For these reasons, the interest in new methodologies for the isotopic enrichment of organic molecules and the extent of their applications are equally rising. In this regard, this Review intends to comprehensively discuss the new developments in this area over the last years (2017-2021). Notably, besides the fundamental hydrogen isotope exchange (HIE) reactions and the use of isotopically labeled analogues of common organic reagents, a plethora of reductive and dehalogenative deuteration techniques and other transformations with isotope incorporation are emerging and are now part of the labeling toolkit.

Highly Regioselective Copper-Catalyzed Transfer Hydrodeuteration of Unactivated Terminal Alkenes

Catalytic transfer hydrodeuteration of unactivated alkenes is challenging because of the requirement that chemically similar hydrogen and deuterium undergo selective insertion across a π-bond. We now report a highly regioselective catalytic transfer hydrodeuteration of unactivated terminal alkenes across a variety of heteroatom- or heterocycle-containing substrates. The base-metal-catalyzed reaction is also demonstrated on two complex natural products. Reaction studies indicate modular conditions that can also be extended to perform either an alkene transfer hydrogenation or transfer deuteration.

Acyl fluorides as direct precursors to fluoride ketyl radicals: reductive deuteration using SmI2 and D2O

A highly chemoselective reductive deuteration of acyl fluorides to provide α,α-dideuterio alcohols with exquisite levels of deuterium incorporation was developed using SmI₂ and D₂O as the deuterium source. This method introduces acyl fluorides as attractive radical precursors for the generation of reactive acyl-type fluoride ketyls that should find widespread application in many synthetic strategies involving single electron transfer processes.

Recent Advances in the Use of Sodium Dispersion for Organic Synthesis

This short review describes the recent emergence of organosodium chemistry, motivated by the requirements of modern synthetic chemistry for sustainability, and powered by the use of sodium dispersion, a form of sodium that is commercially available, easy to handle, and has a large active surface area. We present recent methods for the preparation of organosodium compounds using sodium dispersion, and their applications to synthesis. Sodium amides and phosphides are also briefly discussed.

1 Introduction

2 Sodium Dispersion

3 Preparation of Organosodium Compounds

3.1 Two-Electron Reduction of Aryl Halides

3.2 Halogen–Sodium Exchange

3.3 Directed Metalation

3.4 Cleavage of C–C and C–Heteroatom Bonds

4 Synthetic Applications

4.1 Reduction in Combination with a Proton Source

4.1.1 Bouveault–Blanc Reduction

4.1.2 Birch Reduction

4.1.3 Reductive Deuteration

4.1.4 Chemoselective Cleavage of Amides and Nitriles

4.2 Difunctionalization of Alkenes and Alkynes

5 Sodium Amides and Phosphides

6 Conclusions and Outlook

Synthesis of α-Deuterated Primary Amines via Reductive Deuteration of Oximes Using D2O as a Deuterium Source

Selective introduction of the deuterium atom into the α-position of amines is important for the development of all types of novel deuterated drugs and agrochemicals due to the pervasive presence of amines. In this study, we report the first general single-electron-transfer reductive deuteration of both ketoximes and aldoximes using SmI₂ as an electron donor and D₂O as a deuterium source for the synthesis of α-deuterated primary amines with excellent levels of deuterium incorporations (>95% [D]). This protocol exhibits excellent chemoselectivity and tolerates a variety of functional groups. The potential application of this new method was showcased in the synthesis of deuterated drugs, such as rimantadine-d₄, the tebufenpyrad analogue, derivatives of nabumetone and pregnenolone, and a series of building blocks for the rapid and general assembly of deuterated drugs and pesticides.

Chemical-Reductant-Free Electrochemical Deuteration Reaction using Deuterium Oxide

We report a method for the electrochemical deuteration of α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds under catalyst- and external-reductant-free conditions, with deuteration rates as high as 99 % and yields up to 91 % in 2 h. The use of graphite felt for both the cathode and the anode was key to ensuring chemoselectivity and high deuterium incorporation under neutral conditions without the need for an external reductant. This method has a number of advantages over previously reported deuteration reactions that use stoichiometric metallic reductants. Mechanistic experiments showed that O₂ evolution at the anode not only eliminates the need for an external reductant but also regulates the pH of the reaction mixture, keeping it approximately neutral.

Radical α,β-Dehydrogenation of Saturated Amides via α-Oxidation with TEMPO under Transition Metal-Free Conditions

A transition metal-free radical process for the selective α,β-dehydrogenation of saturated amides under mild conditions is developed. Utilizing radical activation strategy, the challenging issue associated with the low α-acidity of amides is resolved. For the first time, α,β-unsaturated Weinreb amides and acrylamides could be efficiently prepared directly from corresponding saturated amides. Mechanistic studies confirm the radical nature of this transformation. Two gram scale α,β-dehydrogenation have also been performed to demonstrate the utility of this method.

Selective C-N σ Bond Cleavage in Azetidinyl Amides under Transition Metal-Free Conditions

Functionalization of amide bond via the cleavage of a non-carbonyl, C-N σ bond remains under-investigated. In this work, a transition-metal-free single-electron transfer reaction has been developed for the C-N σ bond cleavage of N-acylazetidines using the electride derived from sodium dispersions and 15-crown-5. Of note, less strained cyclic amides and acyclic amides are stable under the reaction conditions, which features the excellent chemoselectivity of the reaction. This method is amenable to a range of unhindered and sterically encumbered azetidinyl amides.

Reductive Deuteration of Nitriles: The Synthesis of α,α-Dideuterio Amines by Sodium-Mediated Electron Transfer Reactions

The first general reductive deuteration of nitriles under single-electron transfer conditions has been developed for the synthesis of α,α-dideuterio amines. This practical and cost-efficient protocol requires only bench stable and commercially available sodium dispersions and EtOD- d₁ and allows for the reductive deuteration of a variety of nitriles in excellent yields and deuterium incorporations.

A Practical and Chemoselective Ammonia-Free Birch Reduction

A novel protocol for a significantly improved, practical, and chemoselective ammonia-free Birch reduction mediated by bench-stable sodium dispersions and recoverable 15-crown-5 ether is reported. A broad range of aromatic and heteroaromatic compounds is reduced with excellent yields.

Reduction and Reductive Deuteration of Tertiary Amides Mediated by Sodium Dispersions with Distinct Proton Donor-Dependent Chemoselectivity

A practical and scalable single electron transfer reduction mediated by sodium dispersions has been developed for the reduction and reductive deuteration of tertiary amides. The chemoselectivity of this method highly depends on the nature of the proton donor. The challenging reduction via C-N bond cleavage has been achieved using Na/EtOH, affording alcohol products, while the use of Na/NaOH/H₂O leads to the formation of amines via selective C-O scission. Sodium dispersions with high specific surface areas are crucial to obtain high yields and good chemoselectivity. This new method tolerates a range of tertiary amides. Moreover, the corresponding reductive deuterations mediated by Na/EtOD- d₁ and Na/NaOH/D₂O afford useful α,α-dideuterio alcohols and α,α-dideuterio amines with an excellent deuterium content.

Transition-Metal-Free, Selective Reductive Deuteration of Terminal Alkynes with Sodium Dispersions and EtOD- d1

A transition-metal-free single electron transfer reaction has been developed for the synthesis of [D₃]-alkenes from terminal alkynes using sodium dispersions as the electron donor and EtOD- d₁ as the deuterium source. Both reagents are cost-effective and bench-stable. This practical method exhibits remarkable terminal alkyne selectivity and exclusive alkene selectivity. Excellent deuterium incorporations and yields were achieved across a broad range of terminal alkynes without olefin isomerization. Of note, this reaction is highly solvent dependent. n-Hexane provides unique enhancement to this reductive deuteration process.