Practical Asymmetric Synthesis of Sitagliptin Phosphate Monohydrate

Enantioselective Synthesis of (R)-Sitagliptin via Phase-Transfer Catalytic aza-Michael Addition

The highly enantioselective synthesis of (R)-sitagliptin has been achieved through a series of key steps, including the aza-Michael addition and Baeyer-Villiger oxidation. The enantioselective aza-Michael addition involved the reaction of tert-butyl β-naphthylmethoxycarbamate with (E)-1-(4-methoxyphenyl)-4-(2,4,5-trifluorophenyl)but-2-en-1-one, utilizing a quinine-derived C(9)-urea ammonium catalyst under phase-transfer catalytic conditions. The aza-Michael addition successfully introduced chirality to the amine in (R)-sitagliptin with 96% ee. The subsequent Baeyer-Villiger oxidation of the aza-Michael adduct led to the formation of 4-methoxyphenyl ester. Hydrolysis and amide coupling were then employed to construct the amide moiety. Further deprotections were performed to complete the synthesis of (R)-sitagliptin (7 steps, 41%, 96% ee).

Development and Validation for Quantification of 7-Nitroso Impurity in Sitagliptin by Ultraperformance Liquid Chromatography with Triple Quadrupole Mass Spectrometry

The purpose of this research study was to develop an analytical method for the quantification of 7-nitroso-3-(trifluoromethyl)-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-[1,2,4] triazolo [4,3-a] pyrazine (7-nitroso impurity), which is a potential genotoxic impurity. Since sitagliptin is an anti-diabetic medication used to treat type 2 diabetes and the duration of the treatment is long-term, the content of nitroso impurity must be controlled by using suitable techniques. To quantify this impurity, a highly sensitive and reproducible ultraperformance liquid chromatography with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) method was developed. The analysis was performed on a Kromasil-100, with a C18 column (100 mm × 4.6 mm with a particle size of 3.5 µm) at an oven temperature of approximately 40 °C. The mobile phase was composed of 0.12% formic acid in water, with methanol as mobile phases A and B, and the flow rate was set to 0.6 mL/min. The method was validated according to the current International Council for Harmonisation (ICH) guidelines with respect to acceptable limits, specificity, reproducibility, accuracy, linearity, precision, ruggedness and robustness. This method is useful for the detection of the impurity at the lowest limit of detection (LOD), which was 0.002 ppm, and the lowest limit of quantification (LOQ), which was 0.005 ppm. This method was linear in the range of 0.005 to 0.06 ppm and the square of the correlation coefficient (R2) was determined to be > 0.99. This method could help to determine the impurity in the regular analysis of sitagliptin drug substances and drug products.

Nickel-Catalyzed Asymmetric Hydrogenation for the Synthesis of a Key Intermediate of Sitagliptin

Nickel-catalyzed enantioselective hydrogenation of enamines leading to the efficient synthesis of 3-R-Boc-amino-4-(2,4,5-trifluorophenyl)butyric esters, the key intermediate of the blockbuster antidiabetic drug (R)-SITAGLIPTIN, is described. The sitagliptin motifs were isolated in more than 99% yield and with 75-92% ee using the earth-abundant nickel catalyst. Upon chiral resolution with (R)- and (S)-1-phenylethylamines, the partially enantioenriched (R)- and (S)-Boc-3-amino-4-(2,4,5-trifluorophenyl)butanoic acids provided >99.5% ee of the crucial sitagliptin intermediate. The asymmetric hydrogenation protocol was scaled up to 10 g with consistency in yield and ee, and has been reproduced in multiple batches.

Palladium/Xu-Phos-catalyzed asymmetric carboamination towards isoxazolidines and pyrrolidines

An efficient palladium-catalyzed enantioselective carboamination reaction of N-Boc-O-homoallyl-hydroxylamines and N-Boc-pent-4-enylamines with aryl or alkenyl bromides was developed, delivering various substituted isoxazolidines and pyrrolidines in good yields with up to 97% ee. The reaction features mild conditions, general substrate scope and scalability. The obtained products can be transformed into chiral 1,3-aminoalcohol derivatives without erosion of chirality. The newly identified Xu-Phos ligand bearing an ortho-OiPr group is responsible for the good yield and high enantioselectivity.

Synthesis of (R)-3-(tert-Butoxycarbonylamino)-4-(2,4,5-trifluorophenyl)butanoic Acid, a Key Intermediate, and the Formal Synthesis of Sitagliptin Phosphate

An alternate formal synthesis of Sitagliptin phosphate is disclosed from 2,4,5-trifluorobenzadehyde in 8 linear steps with an overall yield of 31%. The chiral β-amino acid moiety present in sitaglitpin is installed via an asymmetric hydrogenation followed by a stereoselective Hofmann rearrangement as the key steps. The key chiral intermediate Boc-amino acid 1 prepared by this novel route was further converted to Sitagliptin phosphate following the known literature protocol.