Deucravacitinib (BMS-986165) is a deuterated small-molecule TYK2 inhibitor developed for the treatment of numerous autoimmune disorders. While the first-generation discovery chemistry route to access ...deucravacitinib was concise and sufficient to access kilogram quantities of API, impurity control and cost-of-goods concerns necessitated the design of a new route. Once a new route was identified and demonstrated, each step was optimized for yield, purity, robustness, and sustainability. Key accomplishments include (1) the development of a novel cyclocondensation under mild conditions to afford a methylated 1,2,4-triazole with excellent regiocontrol, (2) the development of safe, homogeneous conditions to quench POCl3 following chlorination of a substrate that is sensitive to nucleophilic and basic conditions, (3) the discovery of a robust, scalable “dual-base” palladium-catalyzed C–N coupling reaction, and (4) mechanistic understanding to inform control strategies for a number of process-related impurities in an API step amidation mediated by EDC. Ultimately, the optimized commercial route was successfully scaled up to afford more than a metric ton of deucravacitinib for clinical and commercial use.
Unusual Pd deactivation and inhibition pathways were observed in a C–N coupling system. Irreversible catalyst deactivation involved C–H insertion of Pd into BippyPhos leading to an off-cycle ...palladaphosphacyclobutene. Product inhibition led to deactivated Pd but released ligand in the process, allowing it to react with additional Pd precursor to re-enter the catalytic cycle. In situ recycling of the ligand allowed for an input L/Pd ratio of ≪1 with no impact on reaction kinetics.
The development of an improved short and efficient commercial synthesis of the JAK2 inhibitor, a complex pyrrolopyridine, BMS-911543, is described. During the discovery and development of this ...synthesis, a Pd-catalyzed C–H functionalization was invented which enabled the rapid union of the key pyrrole and imidazole fragments. The synthesis of this complex, nitrogen-rich heterocycle was accomplished in only six steps (longest linear sequence) from readily available materials.
A practical synthesis of l-valyl-pyrrolidine-(2R)-boronic acid (1) is detailed. A previously disclosed synthesis of 1 (Snow, R.; Kelly, T. R.; Adams, J.; Coutts, S.; Perry, C. (Boehringer Ingelheim ...Pharmaceuticals, Inc.). WO 93/10127, 1993) was significantly improved by developing an efficient process for recycling the costly chiral auxiliary (+)- pinanediol.
(S)-N-(tert-Butoxycarbonyl)-3-hydroxymethylpiperidine 1 was made from (R,S)-3-hydroxymethylpiperidine 2 via fractional crystallization of the corresponding l(−)-dibenzoyl tartarate salt 3 followed by ...hydrolysis and acylation. Lipase from Pseudomonas cepacia was found to be the best enzyme for the stereospecific resolution of (R,S)-N-(tert-butoxycarbonyl)-3-hydroxymethylpiperidine 4. (S)-N-(tert-Butoxycarbonyl)-3-hydroxymethylpiperidine 1 was obtained in 16% yield and >95% enantiomeric excess (ee) by hydrolysis of (R,S)-acetate 5 by lipase PS from Pseudomonas cepacia. Lipase PS-catalyzed esterification of the (R,S)-N-(tert-butoxycarbonyl)-3-hydroxymethylpiperidine 4 with succinic anhydride provided the S-hemisuccinate ester 6, which could be easily separated and hydrolyzed by base to the (S)-N-(tert-butoxycarbonyl)-3-hydroxymethylpiperidine 1. The yield and ee could be improved greatly by repetition of the process. Using the repeated esterification procedure (S)-N-(tert-butoxycarbonyl)-3-hydroxymethylpiperidine 1 was obtained in 32% yield (maximum theoretical yield 50%) and 98.9% ee.
During the process of developing a synthesis to a complex molecule, multiple decisions are made regarding the strategies and tactics used to prepare key bonds. In this article, we preface a series of ...papers describing the development of the commercial synthesis of BMS-663068 (a potential new treatment for HIV), with an in-depth discussion of the important strategic decisions made during the process of designing and demonstrating the proposed commercial synthesis of this complex clinical candidate. We discuss the key strategic disconnections and the key experimental data used to drive our tactical decisions during development. In the remaining articles in this series, we outline the development of these enabling chemical processes into scalable procedures ready to support commercialization of this promising new medicine.
A practical synthesis of 3-((1S, 2S)-2-dimethylaminomethylcyclopropyl)-1H-indole-5-carbonitrile hydrochloride (1), a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), is described. The process to ...prepare 1 was demonstrated on laboratory scale and highlights an enantioselective Simmons−Smith cyclopropanation of allylic alcohol 3 using Charette’s chiral dioxaborolane ligand. The improved synthesis enabled production of 1 in 8 chemical steps (5 isolations) in an overall yield of 38%.
