A Novel Synthetic Approach to Pyrrolopyrimidine Antifolates

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/jo00059a016

A novel and efficient synthetic method for the synthesis of pyrrolo<2,3-d>pyrimidine antifolates is described.The key reaction of this method is the photo-initiated free radical addition of bromomalononitrile or ethyl bromocyanoacetate to an enol ether to afford the backbone skeleton of the targeted antifolate molecule.The key intermediates 3 or 4 are smoothly converted to the pyrrolo<2,3-d>pyrimidine antifolates 1 or 2 in three steps and in high overall yield.