Umpolung Flow Chemistry for the Synthesis of a 3-Oxo-3H-spiro[benzofuran-2,4'-piperidine] Building Block

An efficient and scalable route to tert-butyl 3-oxo-3H-spiro[benzofuran-2,4'-piperidine]-1'-carboxylate, a central prochiral intermediate in the synthesis of SHP2 inhibitor GDC-1971 (migoprotafib), was achieved. Preparation of the title compound from readily available 2-fluorobenzaldehyde included formation of a modified Katritzky benzotriazole hemiaminal, which, upon deprotonation by n-butyllithium, participated in umpolung reactivity via 1,2-addition to tert-butyl 4-oxopiperidine-1-carboxylate (N-Boc-4-piperidone). Most notably, this reaction was developed as a robust plug-flow process that could be executed on multiple kilograms without the need for pilot-scale reaction vessels operating at low cryogenic temperatures. Treatment of the resulting tetrahedral intermediate with oxalic acid resulted in collapse to the corresponding 4-(2-fluorobenzoyl)-4-hydroxypiperidine, which was isolated as a solid via crystallization. The synthesis concluded with an optimized intramolecular SNAr reaction and final crystallization to generate tert-butyl 3-oxo-3H-spiro[benzofuran-2,4'-piperidine]-1'-carboxylate as a stable, high-quality intermediate suitable for further functionalization toward GDC-1971.

Guided Optimization of a Crystallization-Induced Diastereomer Transformation to Access a Key Navoximod Intermediate

The recently reported crystallization-induced diastereomer transformation (CIDT) of a precursor to navoximod was investigated using online HPLC via a modified EasySampler probe that enables selective solution phase sampling of heterogeneous...

Stereoselective Synthesis of the IDO Inhibitor Navoximod

A highly efficient asymmetric synthesis of the IDO inhibitor navoximod, featuring the stereoselective installation of two relative and two absolute stereocenters from an advanced racemic intermediate, is described. The stereocenters were set via a crystallization-induced dynamic resolution along with two selective ketone reductions: one via a biocatalytic ketoreductase transformation and one via substrate-controlled hydride delivery from LiAlH(Ot-Bu)₃. Following this strategy, navoximod was synthesized in 10 steps from 2-fluorobenzaldehyde and isolated in 23% overall yield with 99.7% ee and high purity.

Practical Early Development Synthesis of Nav1.7 Inhibitor GDC-0310

The concise early development route to the Nav1.7 inhibitor GDC-0310 is described. The active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) contains one stereocenter, which was obtained with high enantiomeric excess (>99:1) by using an SN2 displacement approach to connect two intermediates: a chiral benzyl alcohol and a piperidine. The synthesis of the piperidine building block proceeded via a regioselective SNAr reaction on 1-chloro-2,4-difluorobenzene by N-Boc-4-piperidinemethanol, followed by installation of the methyl ester group by electrophilic aromatic bromination and a palladium-catalyzed alkoxycarbonylation. A subsequent Suzuki–Miyaura cross-coupling reaction was then telescoped directly into cleavage of the Boc group to provide the advanced piperidine intermediate. The key feature of the synthesis is the highly selective SN2 displacement of the chiral mesylate of (R)-1-(3,5-dichlorophenyl)ethan-1-ol with the piperidine intermediate, followed by a chiral purity upgrade via the corresponding (1S)-(+)-camphorsulfonic acid salt. After standard hydrolysis of the methyl ester and CDI mediated amidation to couple the resulting acid with methanesulfonamide, enantiomerically pure GDC-0310 was obtained in high overall yield (37%) on a 6.5 kilogram scale.