DOI: 10.1002/chem.201904400
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Kinetics
Continuous Flow Synthesis of ACE Inhibitors From N-Substituted
l-Alanine Derivatives
step to afford perindopril 6. Warner-Lambert’s approach in-
Abstract: A strategy for the continuous flow synthesis of
stead relied on the activation of 18 with highly toxic phosgene
angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors is de-
to produce N-carboxyanhydride 19.[5] Again, the activated in-
scribed. An optimization effort guided by in situ IR analy-
termediate was isolated before amide coupling with 20.
sis resulted in a general amide coupling approach facilitat-
As an alternative to these batch syntheses, we envisioned a
ed by N-carboxyanhydride (NCA) activation that was fur-
continuous flow approach that would unite these structurally
ther characterized by reaction kinetics analysis in batch.
related products under a single synthetic paradigm while also
The three-step continuous process was demonstrated by
mitigating process intensity. Specifically, we aimed to develop
synthesizing 8 different ACE inhibitors in up to 88% yield
a rapid, scalable, and safe synthesis of ACE inhibitors starting
with throughputs in the range of ꢀ0.5 ghÀ1, all while
from well-established N-substituted l-alanine derivatives 14
avoiding both isolation of reactive intermediates and pro-
and 20 as a part of our ongoing interest in this class of APIs.[6]
cess intensive reaction conditions. The process was further
Mild activation with N,N-carbonyldiimidazole (CDI) would pro-
developed by preparing enalapril, a World Health Organi-
duce competent NCA amide coupling partners (Figure 1C) and
zation (WHO) essential medicine, in an industrially relevant
subsequent coupling with various tBu-protected amino acid
flow platform that scaled throughput to ꢀ1 ghÀ1.
derivatives would be followed by acidic deprotection to reveal
the API.
Continuous flow tactics for amide coupling have emerged
as a preferable alternative to traditional batch approaches.[7]
ACE inhibitors are a safe and effective treatment for hyperten-
sion.[1] Despite the structural similarities shared between these
Notable advantages of these works include precisely controlled
active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) (Figure 1A), a number
of different synthetic approaches have been pursued.[2] Herein,
we report a synthetic plan that consolidates the preparation of
these essential medicines to a single three-step continuous
process.
activation and amination conditions wherein deleterious path-
ways, such as racemization, may be avoided. Though a
number of examples have been demonstrated in microscale
reactors, these approaches benefit from development in inher-
ently scalable reactors.
The first ACE inhibitor was described by E.R. Squibb and
Sons Pharmaceuticals in 1977 with the disclosure of captopril
1.[3] This successful development initiated intense campaigns in
Our development began by evaluating the amide coupling
of 18 by acid chloride activation in flow (Scheme 1). As an al-
ternative to toxic and otherwise hash chlorinating reagents
such as PCl5, a highly soluble analogue of the Vilsmeir re-
agent 22 was prepared from diethyl formamide and phthalyl
chloride. Activation of fragment 18 with the chlorinating re-
agent was followed by addition of tetrahydroisoquinoline 23.
Quenching of this stream with aqueous base and partitioning
with a membrane phase separator afforded quinapril-OBn 24
in up to 69% yield. However, persistent production of insolu-
ble material attributed to hydrochloride salts prior to the aque-
ous quench prevented sustained performance of the system
and this route was ultimately abandoned.
structure–activity relationship optimization that yielded
a
range of potent and structurally diverse ACE inhibitors.[4] The
presence of an N-substituted l-alanine fragment proved to be
a robust structural motif present in many effective ACE inhibi-
tors.
As shown in Figure 1B, two representative examples of ACE
inhibitor syntheses highlight improvement opportunities in the
manufacturing processes. In 2005, Lupin Ltd. reported the
treatment of fragment 14 with PCl5 to yield the corresponding
acid chloride 15.[2] Isolation of this activated intermediate re-
quired careful handling the stoichiometric POCl3 byproduct
and was followed by amide coupling with 16. The sequence
concluded with a process intensive catalytic hydrogenolysis
As shown in Figure 2, activation of 18 by NCA was subse-
quently investigated. NCAs have found utility in polypeptide
synthesis and their preparation has recently been embodied as
an efficient continuous process, but general application to
stepwise peptide coupling reactions has been limited by a pro-
pensity for undesired oligomerization.[8] It was initially suspect-
ed that in situ IR analysis would be an ideal analytical tool to
monitor the unique carbonyl moieties formed upon NCA cycli-
zation. As expected, two strong IR signals at 1783 and
1854 cmÀ1 appeared upon treatment of 18 with 1.0 equivalent
[a] C. P. Breen, Prof. Dr. T. F. Jamison
Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
77 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139 (USA)
Supporting information and the ORCID identification number(s) for the
author(s) of this article can be found under:
Chem. Eur. J. 2019, 25, 1 – 6
1
ꢀ 2019 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
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