Development of a Scalable, Chromatography-Free Synthesis of t-Bu-SMS-Phos and Application to the Synthesis of an Important Chiral CF3-Alcohol Derivative with High Enantioselectivity Using Rh-Catalyzed Asymmetric Hydrogenation.

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%).

Structure elucidation and total synthesis of a unique group of trace impurities in Tipranavir drug product.

Four unknown trace impurities (7-10) were observed in the capsule formulation of the HIV drug Tipranavir after prolonged storage at 30 degrees C/70% RH. Extensive NMR and LC/MS analyses revealed the compounds to be covalent adducts between TRIS, an excipient of the formulation, and diastereomeric Tipranavir alcohols formed via slow air oxidation of the drug substance. The structures were ultimately confirmed by total synthesis with final purification by chiral, preparative supercritical fluid chromatography. A novel Favorskii rearrangement to furnish butyrolactones was also uncovered during the synthesis.