Synthesis of 4-formyl estrone using a positional protecting group and its conversion to other C-4-substituted estrogens

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/jo7017075

(Chemical Equation Presented) 4-Formyl estrone was synthesized in overall good yield in three steps starting from estrone. This was achieved by conducting an electrophilic aromatic substitution reaction using formaldehyde, triethylamine, and MgCl₂ on 2-tert-butyl estrone, which was readily prepared in 96% yield from estrone using tert-butyl alcohol and BF ₃OEt₂. The tert-butyl group acted as a positional protecting group to prevent reaction at the 2-position. The tert-butyl group was readily removed in good yield using AlCl₃ in dichloromethane/CH ₃NO₂. To our knowledge, this represents the first use of a positional protecting group for the synthesis of a C-4-modified estrogen. 4-Formyl estrone was used as a common precursor to obtain a variety of other C-4 modified estrogens in very high yields such as 4-methylestrone and 4-hydroxymethylestrone as well as the novel estrogen 4-carboxyestrone. The syntheses of 4-formyl, -methyl-, and -hydroxymethyl estrone represent dramatic improvements over previously reported syntheses of these compounds.

Full text of DOI:10.1021/jo7017075

Synthesis of 4-Formyl Estrone Using a Positional Protecting Group
and Its Conversion to Other C-4-Substituted Estrogens
Yong Liu, Byoungmoo Kim, and Scott D. Taylor*
Department of Chemistry, UniVersity of Waterloo, 200 UniVersity AVenue West,
Waterloo, ON, Canada N2L 3G1
s5taylor@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca
ReceiVed August 3, 2007
4-Formyl estrone was synthesized in overall good yield in three steps starting from estrone. This was
achieved by conducting an electrophilic aromatic substitution reaction using formaldehyde, triethylamine,
and MgCl2 on 2-tert-butyl estrone, which was readily prepared in 96% yield from estrone using tert-
butyl alcohol and BF3OEt2. The tert-butyl group acted as a positional protecting group to prevent reaction
at the 2-position. The tert-butyl group was readily removed in good yield using AlCl3 in dichloromethane/
CH3NO2. To our knowledge, this represents the first use of a positional protecting group for the synthesis
of a C-4-modified estrogen. 4-Formyl estrone was used as a common precursor to obtain a variety of
other C-4 modified estrogens in very high yields such as 4-methylestrone and 4-hydroxymethylestrone
as well as the novel estrogen 4-carboxyestrone. The syntheses of 4-formyl, -methyl-, and -hydroxymethyl
estrone represent dramatic improvements over previously reported syntheses of these compounds.
Introduction
Estrogens, such as estrone (1, E1) and estradiol (2, E2), have
key roles in many biological processes. Numerous derivatives
have been made from these two steroids, and some are used as
drugs for treatment of a variety of medical conditions.1 Thus,
improved methods for preparing estrogen derivatives and the
synthesis of new estrogen derivatives is of considerable
importance. Our interest in E1 and E2 derivatives is a result of
our work on developing inhibitors of steroid sulfatase (STS),
an enzyme that catalyzes the desulfation of estrone sulfate to
estrone. STS is now considered to be an important target for
the treatment of various forms of steroid-dependent cancers.2-4
We were specifically interested in constructing E1 derivatives
bearing substituents attached to C-4 by a C-C bond such as
FIGURE 1. Structures of estrone, estradiol, and targeted estrogen
derivatives 3-6.
compounds 3-6 (Figure 1). Some of these (3, 4, and 6) are
known compounds, and several have been shown to be useful
as intermediates in the synthesis of biologically active estrogen
derivatives.5-9 However, their syntheses were achieved in
poor yields (16% or less),5-9 and these low yields reflect the
(1) Fullerton, D. S. Textbook of Organic, Medicinal and Pharmaceutical
Chemistry; Delgado, J. N., Remers, W. A., Eds.; Lippincott Williams &
Wilkins: New York, 1998; Chapter 23.
(2) For a review of the biology and regulation of STS, see: Reed, M. J.;
Purohit, A.; Woo, L. W.; Newman, S. P.; Potter, B. V. Endocr. ReV. 2005,
26, 171.
(3) For a review on STS inhibitors see: Nussbaumer, P.; Billich, A. Med.
Res. ReV. 2004, 24, 529.
(4) For a review on aryl sulfatases, see: Hanson, S. R.; Best, M. D.;
Wong, C. H. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2004, 43, 5736.
(5) (a) Organon, N. V. Neth. Patent 6506542, 1967. (b) De Winter, M.
S.; Ribbers, J. E.; U.S. Patent 3579543, 1971.
(6) Pert, D. J.; Ridley, D. D. Aust. J. Chem. 1989, 42, 405.
(7) Peters, R. H.; Chao, W.-R.; Sato, B.; Shigeno, K.; Zaveri, N. T.;
Tanabe, M. Steroids 2003, 68, 97.
(8) Singh, V.; Lahiri, S.; Kane, V. V.; Stey, T.; Stalke, D. Org. Lett.
2003, 5, 2199.
10.1021/jo7017075 CCC: $37.00 © 2007 American Chemical Society
Published on Web 10/11/2007
8824
J. Org. Chem. 2007, 72, 8824-8830

Synthesis of 4-Formyl Estrone
SCHEME 1. Synthesis of Estrogens 3, 5, and 9 from Nitrile 8
difficulties in preparing E1 derivatives modified at the 4-posi-
tion. Here, we report the synthesis of these and other C-4-
modified estrogen derivatives in good yield from a common
precursor and using a positional protecting group.
Our initial route to 4-FE1 was to prepare 4-cyanoestrone (8),
which is easily obtained in good yield,12 and then convert the
cyano group to the desired functional group (Scheme 1). Pert
and Ridley had previously attempted to prepare 4-FE2 from
4-cyanoestradiol using a variety of methodologies.6 However,
only when Raney nickel/formic acid was used was the desired
product obtained and in only a 9% yield. Nevertheless, we
reasoned that optimization of the Raney nickel reaction or other
methods that are available for converting nitriles to aldehydes
would yield 4-FE1 in good yield. Thus, E1 was reacted with
NBA in EtOH to give 4-bromoestrone (7) in 77% yield.10,13
Compound 7 was then converted into nitrile 8 in 89% yield
using CuCN in refluxing DMF.12 However, after many reactions
of 8 with various amounts of Raney Ni and formic acid and at
various temperatures the best yield of 4-FE1 we were able to
obtain was only 20% (Ra/Ni, 60% formic acid, 140 °C, 48 h)
and the purification was difficult. Other reagents were examined
for converting 8 in to 4-FE1 such as DIBAL, PtO2 in refluxing
formic acid,14 (MeNHCH2CH2NHMe)-LiAlH415 however, only
trace amounts of 4-FE1 and/or 4-FE2 were formed. Protection
Results and Discussion
We envisioned preparing 4-formyl estrone (3, 4-FE1) and
then either oxidizing or reducing the aldehyde group to obtain
compounds 4-6. The first synthesis of 4-FE1 appeared in the
patent literature and was achieved by reacting E1 with NaOH,
CHCl3 in EtOH with heating (Reimer-Tiemann reaction).5a,b
This gave a mixture of 2-formyl estrone (2-FE1) and 4-FE1 in
an unspecified yield. However, Pert and Ridley later reported
that they were only able to obtain a 9% yield of the mixture
using this approach.6 However, by making slight modifications
to the amount of base and chloroform and performing the
reaction in the presence of catalytic benzyltriethylammonium
chloride, these workers were able to obtain 4-FE1 in a 16%
yield after careful chromatographic separation from a small
amount of 2-FE1 that was also produced in the reaction.6 These
workers also constructed 4-formylestradiol (4-FE2) by first
protecting the phenolic and 17-OH groups in 4-bromoestradiol
with the MEM moiety followed by lithium-bromine exchange
and formylation of the resulting carbanion with N-methylfor-
mamide.6 Removal of the MEM groups gave 4-FE2. Although
this was a potential route to 4-FE1 by oxidation of the 17-OH
in 4-FE2,7 the overall yield of 4-FE2 from 4-bromoestradiol
was only 19%. Moreover, when including the additional steps
of E2 bromination10 and oxidation of the 17-OH,7 an overall
yield of 14% for 4-FE1 can be estimated.11
(10) Utne, T.; Jobson, R. B.; Landgraf, F. W. J. Org. Chem. 1968, 33,
1654.
(11) This assumes a yield of 93% for the oxidation step (see ref 7) and
80% for the bromination (see ref 10).
(12) Labrie, F.; Provencher, L.; Gauthier, S. Int. Appl. WO2004089971,
2004; Chem. Abstr. 2004, 141, 366369.
(13) This high level of selectivity for the 4-position is unusual for an
electrophilic aromatic substitution (EAS) on E1. All other reported EAS
reactions on E1 (not just bromination) always give mixtures of the 2- and
4-isomeric products (plus disubstituted product) and the 2-isomer usually
dominates. Other brominating agents do not give the same degree of
selectivity as NBA. See: Numazawa, M.; Ogura, Y.; Kimura, K.; Nagaoka,
M. J. Chem. Res., Syn. 1985, 11, 348. No explanation has been put forth to
explain the high level of selectivity obtained with NBA.
(14) Xi, F.; Kamal, F.; Schenerman, M. A. Tetrahedron Lett. 2002, 43,
1395.
(9) Holt, D. A.; Levy, M. A.; Ladd, D. L.; Oh, H-J.; Erb, J. M.; Heaslip,
J. I.; Brandt, M.; Metcalf, B. W. J. Med. Chem. 1990, 33, 937.
J. Org. Chem, Vol. 72, No. 23, 2007 8825

Liu et al.
SCHEME 2. Synthesis of 2-tert-Butylestrone (11)
of the 3-OH group as a methyl ether did not help. Reaction of
nitrile 8 with LiAlH4 in refluxing THF gave amine 9 in 59%
yield.16 Direct oxidation of 9 using refluxing (CH2)6N4 in HOAc/
H2O18 failed to give 4-FE1. Nitrile 9 proved to be remarkably
inert to hydrolysis. Acidic hydrolysis in 70% sulfuric acid did
not proceed at all. Basic hydrolysis using NaOH in ethylene
glycol at 170 °C did yield acid 5 however many unidentified
byproducts were formed and we were never able to isolate 5 in
pure form.
Since bromo compound 7 was readily obtained, we envisioned
preparing 4-FE1 by converting 7 to vinyl derivative 10 followed
by oxidation of the alkene. Stille coupling of 7 with 1.1 equiv
of tributylvinyltin in degassed DMF in the presence of 5.7 mol
% of Pd(PPh3)4 at 165-170 °C for 24 h gave 10 in 73% yield.
However, attempts to convert alkene 10 into 4-FE1 using
ozonolysis or NaIO4/OsO4 yielded either complex mixtures or
only trace amounts of 4-FE1.
One route by which formylated phenols are frequently
prepared is by electrophilic aromatic substitution (EAS) of
unprotected phenols using formaldehyde equivalents, such as
hexamethylenetetramine (HMT), in the presence of an acid, such
as TFA,19 or using formaldehyde itself in the presence of a metal
salt catalyst.20 The former approach was used by Cushman et
al.21 and Peters et al.7 for the synthesis of formylated E2 directly
from E2. Not surprisingly, this gave a mixture of 2-formylestra-
diol (2-FE2) and 4-FE2, which were difficult to separate, and
the yields were poor ranging from 13 to 25% for 2-FE2 and
4-13% for 4-FE2. Clearly, the issues of both yield and
regioselectivity would have to be addressed for EAS to be a
practical approach to 4-FE1. We reasoned that the formaldehyde/
metal salt approach could be used to address the yield issue
since these procedures generally proceed in good yield and that
the selectivity issue could be dealt with using a positional
protecting group at C-2.
E1 and 6 equiv of tert-butyl alcohol in n-pentane.24 What was
particularly significant about this was the high yield of the
reaction (89%) and, due to the large size of the tert-butyl group,
no reaction occurred at the 4-position. Later, Goendoes et al.
reported that 11 could be prepared in an 81% yield using
Friedel-Crafts (F-C) chemistry (tert-butyl chloride, FeCl3).25
The high selectivity and yields of these reactions, coupled with
the knowledge that the tert-butyl group can be removed from
phenolic derivatives in high yield using Lewis acids, suggested
to us that it could be used as a positional protecting group during
the synthesis of 4-FE1.
We examined both of the above methods for preparing
compound 11. Using the F-C chemistry we found that although
the major product was the desired 2-isomer, some of the
undesired 4-isomer was also obtained and after chromatography
and recrystallization, 11 was obtained in a 73% yield (Scheme
2). Therefore, we examined Lunn and Farkas’ approach.
However, rather than use gaseous BF3, we elected to use BF3-
(OEt)2 which is easier to handle. It was found that by subjecting
E1 to 3.0 equiv of BF3(OEt)2 and 2.0 equiv of tert-butyl alcohol
in dry CH2Cl2 for 3 h, a 96% yield of 11 could be obtained.
None of the 4-isomer was detected.
For the formylation of 11 we chose to use the method of
Hofslokken and Skattebol.20d,26 This is a convenient and
generally high-yielding procedure for the selective ortho formy-
lation of phenols using paraformaldehyde, anhydrous MgCl2,
and anhydrous trimethyl amine in refluxing anhydrous aceto-
nitrile or THF. Employing the reagent quantities and conditions
reported by Hofslokken and Skattebol (2 equiv of MgCl2, 3
equiv of paraformaldehyde, 2 equiv of Et3N, oil bath at 75 °C,
4 h), we obtained three products (Scheme 3).27 One was the
desired aldehyde product 12, which could not be separated using
silica gel chromatography from another product, ether 13. The
ratio of aldehyde 12 to ether 13 was 3.1:1.0 as determined by
1H NMR of the chromatographed mixture. A yield of 30% was
calculated for aldehyde 12. The third product was dimer 14,
which was readily separated from compounds 12 and 13. The
ratio of aldehyde 12 to dimer 14 was 1.2:1.0 as determined by
the 1H NMR of the crude reaction mixture after aqueous workup.
In their original paper, Hofslokken and Skattebol reported the
formation of methyl ether byproducts in only a few of the
Although regioselectivity has long been a problem in the
synthesis of C-4-substituted estrogens by EAS, to our knowl-
edge, the use of a positional protecting group has never been
examined as a means of getting around this issue. The tert-
butyl group has been used as a positional protecting group for
the ortho position of substituted phenols for over 50 years.22 It
is usually removed using Lewis acids such as AlCl3 in an
acceptor solvent such as benzene, toluene, or nitromethane.23
2-tert-Butylestrone (11) was first synthesized in 1968 by Lunn
and Farkas by passing a slow stream of BF3 over a solution of
(15) Cha, J. S.; Jang, S. H.; Kwon, S. Y. Bull. Korean Chem. Soc. 2002,
23, 1697.
(16) This synthesis of 9 (33% in three steps from E1) is a considerable
improvement over the literature synthesis of 9 which was accomplished in
a 21% yield over 6 steps starting from estradiol. See ref 17.
(17) Lovely, C. J.; Bhat, A. S.; Coughenour, H. D.; Gilbert, N. E.;
Brueggemeier, R. W. J. Med. Chem. 1997, 40, 3756.
(18) Tamura, K.; Kato, Y.; Ishikawa, A.; Kato, Y.; Himori, M.; Yoshida,
M.; Takashima, Y.; Suzuki, T.; Kawabe, Y.; Cynshi, O.; Kodama, T.; Niki,
E.; Shimizu, M. J. Med. Chem. 2003, 46, 3083.
(19) Suzuki, Y.; Takahashi, H. Chem. Pharm. Bull. 1983, 31, 1751.
(20) (a) Casiraghi, G.; Casnati, G.; Puglia, G.; Sartori, G.; Terenghi, G.
J. Chem. Soc., Perkin Trans. 1 1980, 1862. (b) Casiraghi, G.; Casnati, G.;
Cornia, M.; Pochini, A.; Puglia, G.; Sartori, G.; Ungaro, R. J. Chem. Soc.,
Perkin Trans. 1, 1978, 318. (c) Aldred, R.; Johnston, R.; Levin, D.; Neilan,
J. J. Chem. Soc., Perkin Trans. 1, 1994, 1823. (d) Hofslokken, N., I.;
Skattebol, L. Acta Chim. Scand. 1999, 54, 258.
(21) Cushman, M.; He, H.-M.; Katzenellenbogen, J. A.; Lin, C. M.;
Hamel, E. J. Med. Chem. 1995, 38, 2041.
(22) Kulka, M. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1954, 76, 5469.
(24) Lunn, W. H. W.; Farkas, E. Tetrahedron 1968, 24, 6773.
(25) Goendoes, G.; Dombi, G. Monatsh. Chem. 2002, 133, 1279.
(26) We also attempted the formylation of 11 by a Reimer-Tiemann
reaction employing the conditions used by Pert and Ridley for the
formylation of E1 (1.0 mmol compound 11, 2.5 mL CHCl3, 2.5 mL of 1.5
M NaOH, 20 mg benzyltriethylammonium chloride in 2.5 mL 95% ethanol
then reflux for 20 h. See ref 6). However, even after 24 h reflux, most of
the starting material remained unreacted and only a 9% yield of 4-formylated
product was obtained. Adding additional base or chloroform at various time
intervals and increasing the reaction times did not result in improved yields.
(27) We found that subjecting E1 to these conditions yields a mixture
of 2-FE1 (major) and 4-FE1 (minor) as well as unidentified byproducts.
(23) For a review on the de-tert-butylation of substituted arenes, see:
Saleh, S. A.; Tashtoush, H., I. Tetrahedron, 1998, 53, 14157.
8826 J. Org. Chem., Vol. 72, No. 23, 2007

Synthesis of 4-Formyl Estrone
SCHEME 3. Formylation of 11 with Paraformaldehyde, Triethylamine, and Magnesium Chloride
TABLE 1. Formylation of 11 Using Paraformaldehyde, Magnesium Chloride, and Triethylamine
b
b
entrya
(CH2O)n
MgCl2
Et3Nb
T (°C)
time (h)
12:13
12:14e
% yield of 12c
1
2
3.0
3.0
3.0
3.0
7.0
5.0
5.0
5.0
2.0
2.0
2.0
2.0
6.0
4.0
4.0
4.0
2.0
2.0
2.0
2.0
6.0
4.0
4.0
4.0
75
40
33
40-54
40
40
40
5
6
3.1:1.0d
5.9:1.0d
7.1:1.0e
1.2:1.0
7.7:1.0
9.0:1.0
1.25:1.0
11.6:1.0
13.4:1.0
12.5:1.0
4.5:1.0
30
47
ND
ND
53
60
68
ND
3g
4h
5
16
36
3.5
4.5
4
6.5:1.0d
7.5:1.0d
7.5:1.0d
8.0:1.0e
6
7i
8j
40
8
a Entry 1 was performed using 326 mg of 11 in 5 mL of THF. Entries 2-6 were performed using 200 mg of 11 in 10 mL of THF. b Equivalents of reagent
compared to compound 11. c Compound 12 was obtained as a mixture with compound 13 after chromatography. The yield of 12 was calculated using the
ratio of 12:13 shown in column 7. d Ratio determined by 1H NMR after chromatography. e Ratio determined by 1H NMR after aqueous workup. f 2.0 equiv
of HMPA added. g 17% of unreacted 11 remained after 16 h. h 23% unreacted 11 remained after 36 h. i Performed using 2 g of 11 in 100 mL of THF.
j Reaction performed using 200 mg of 11 in 30 mL of THF and under a slight vacuum. THF was replenished at various time intervals.
SCHEME 4. Synthesis of 4-FE1 (3) by De-tert-butylation of 12
phenols they examined as substrates and in amounts usually
well under 9%. No dimer formation was reported. However,
dimer formation was observed in the reaction between paraform-
aldehyde and magnesium phenoxides formed from ethyl mag-
nesium bromide20b or magnesium methoxide.20c Formation of
both the ether and dimer byproducts was attributed to the attack
of methanol, a byproduct of the reaction, and the phenol
derivative on a quinone methide which is produced as a transient
byproduct.20b-d Optimization studies were undertaken to try and
improve the yield of 12 (Table 1). It was found that the reaction
proceeded within 6 h at 40 °C (entry 2), but lowering the
temperature even further to 33 °C did not result in complete
reaction even after 16 h (entry 3). The amount of dimer and
ether byproducts decreased at the lower temperatures, and at
40 °C, the yield of aldehyde 12 increased 47%. It was reported
that by adding HMPA to the reaction when using ethyl
magnesium bromide to generate the magnesium phenoxide that
dimer formation could be suppressed.20b However, when the
reaction was performed using MgCl2/Et3N at 40 °C in the
presence of 2.0 equiv of dry HMPA the reaction was very slow
and after 16 h little reaction had occurred. Increasing the
temperature to 54 °C and letting the reaction proceed for a
further 24 h gave aldehyde 12 and dimer 14 in almost equal
amounts, though almost no ether was formed and 23% of
unreacted compound 11 remained (entry 4). Increasing the
amount of paraformaldehyde to 7.0 equiv and the amount of
Et3N and MgCl2 to 6.0 equiv gave the aldehyde in 53% yield
with an aldehyde to ether ratio of 6.5:1.0 and a aldehyde to
dimer ratio of 11.6:1 (entry 5). Using 5.0 equiv of paraform-
aldehyde and 4.0 equiv of Et3N and MgCl2, the aldehyde was
obtained in a 60% yield and the amount of ether and dimer
byproducts again decreased (entry 6). Using the same number
of equivalents but performing the reaction on a 10-fold larger
scale resulted in a 68% yield of aldehyde and with similar ratios
of aldehyde to byproduct (entry 7). In an attempt to remove
the methanol that is formed during the reaction and thereby
reduce ether formation, the reaction was performed at 40 °C
under a slight vacuum that allowed solvent and methanol to
distill off slowly during the reaction (entry 8). The solvent was
replenished at various time intervals during the reaction.
Although this resulted in a slight increase in the aldehyde to
ether ratio, the aldehyde to dimer ratio decreased significantly
and the reaction was not complete even after 8 h.
Since 12 and 13 were inseparable, the deprotection was
performed on the mixture. Subjecting a mixture of 12 and 13
(ratio of 7.5:1.0, entry 7, Table 1) to 8.5 equiv of anhydrous
aluminum chloride in nitromethane-CH2Cl2 at room temper-
ature for 5.5 h gave 4-FE1 in 86% yield (Scheme 4). 4-FE1
was easily isolated by column chromatography, and the product
resulting from de-tert-butylatation of methyl ether 13 was not
detected, suggesting that compound 13 was decomposing to an
identified byproduct during the reaction and aq. acidic workup.
J. Org. Chem, Vol. 72, No. 23, 2007 8827

Liu et al.
SCHEME 5. Synthesis of Compounds 4-6 and 15 from 4-FE1
The yield of 4-FE1 starting from compound 11 was 58% (two
steps) and a respectable 56% starting from E1.
solubility issues since 4-FE1 is insoluble in most polar solvents
as DMSO and H2O. Therefore, 4-FE1 was acetylated in 95%
yield using Ac2O/pyr. The resulting ester 16 was soluble in most
organic solvents, and we were able to oxidize the aldehyde
moiety in 5 to the corresponding acid using NaO2Cl/H2O2/
NaHPO4/NaHSO3 in acetonitrile/water.33 The crude acid was
subjected to methanolysis which gave acid 5 in 86% yield (two
steps).
In summary, an effective synthesis of 4-FE1 was achieved.
Key to the success of this synthesis was the use of the tert-
butyl group as a positional protecting group and we believe that
this represents the first use of a positional protecting group for
the synthesis of a C-4 modified estrogen. 4-FE1 could be
converted to a variety of other C-4-modified estrogens in very
high yield.34 These syntheses represent dramatic improvements
over literature procedures. The first synthesis of 4-carbox-
yestrone (5) was also achieved. We expect that this approach
will find widespread use in the synthesis of other C-4-modified
estrogens.
We found that 4-FE1 could be readily converted into the other
estrone derivatives that we required (Scheme 5). Not surpris-
ingly, selective reduction of the aldehyde moiety in 4-FE1 was
not possible using NaBH4, and triol 15 was obtained in 72%
yield using this reagent.28 However, it was found that by
subjecting 4-FE1 to hydrogenation using 25 wt % Pd black/H2
(balloon pressure) in THF the desired hydroxymethyl derivative
4 could be obtained in 99% yield (Scheme 5).29 No reduction
of the ketone at the 17-position was detected. Performing the
hydrogenation in THF/EtOH/AcOH gave the 4-methyl deriva-
tive 6 in 92% yield.30 We were unable to obtain acid 5 directly
from 4-FE1. Conditions that have been shown to be effective
for converting salicylaldehyde derivatives to salicylic acid
derivatives, such as NaO2Cl in the presence of either NaOMe
in DMSO31 or sulfamic acid in THF/H2O/DMSO,32 were
ineffective with 4-FE1. We believed that this was partly due to
(28) Triol 15 has been prepared previously by Lovely et al. in five steps
starting from E2 in an overall yield of 13% (see ref 17). We have achieved
its synthesis in 4 steps starting from E1 in 33% yield and we have not
attempted to optimize the reduction reaction.
(29) Compound 4 was obtained by Singh et al. as a byproduct in the
synthesis of 2-hydroxymethyl estrone. This was achieved by hydroxym-
ethylation of estrone protected at the 17-position with a 1,3-dioxolane ketal
followed by removal of the ketal protecting group. The hydroxymethylation
gave a 35% yield of the 2- and 4-isomers in a 5:1 ratio which could not be
separated until the ketal protecting group was removed. The overall yield
of 4 was 6%. See ref 8. We have prepared compound 4 in a 55% yield
starting from E1.
Experimental Section
4-Formylestra-1,3,5(10)-trien-17-one (3). To a solution of 12
and 13 (100 mg, ratio of 12:13 was 7.5:1, 0.247 mmol compound
12) in CH2Cl2 (4.0 mL) was added nitromethane (2.0 mL, 151
equiv). The resulting mixture was cooled to 0 °C, and anhydrous
AlCl3 (280 mg, 2.1 mmol, 8.5 equiv) was added. After being stirred
for 5.5 h at rt, the reaction was quenched with ice-water and 1 N
HCl and the reaction stirred for 10 min. The mixture was extracted
with EtOAc, and the combined extracts were washed with H2O
and brine and then dried (Na2SO4) and concentrated. Purifica-
(30) This synthesis of 6 (50% from E1) represents a dramatic improve-
ment over the literature procedure which has been prepared by a multistep
procedure in less than 3% yield starting from expensive 19-nortestosterone.
See ref 9 and references therein.
(31) Bayle, J. P.; Perez, F.; Courtieu, J. Bull. Chem. Soc. Fr. 1990, 127,
565.
(32) Garbaccio, R. M.; Stachel, S. J.; Baeschlin, D. K.; Danishefsky, S.
J. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2001, 123, 10903.
(33) Lewis, A.; Stefanuti, I.; Swain, S. A.; Smith, S. A.; Taylor, R. J. K.
Org. Biomol. Chem. 2003, 1, 104.
(34) Inhibition studies with compounds 3-6 and steroid sulfatase are in
progress. The results of these studies will be reported elsewhere.
8828 J. Org. Chem., Vol. 72, No. 23, 2007

Synthesis of 4-Formyl Estrone
tion of the residue by chromatography (methylene chloride) gave
compound 3 as a yellow solid (63 mg, 86%). NMR spectra
corresponded to those reported in the literature:7 mp 234-236 °C
mg. 3.33 mmol, 2.3 equiv) in DMF (12 mL) was refluxed for 6.5
h. After the mixture was cooled to rt, FeCl3 (1 g) and concd HCl
(1 mL) were added, and the mixture was heated at 55 °C for 30
min, cooled to rt, and treated with H2O (20 mL). The mixture was
extracted with ethyl acetate, and combined organics were washed
with H2O and brine and then dried (Na2SO4), filtered, and
concentrated. The residue was purified by flash chromatography
(ethyl acetate/hexane 1:2 to 1:1.5) to give 8 as a white solid (375
mg, 89%): 1H NMR corresponded to that reported in the literature;12
1
(lit.7 mp 234-237 °C); H NMR (CDCl3, 300 MHz) δ 11.96 (s,
1H), 10.34 (s, 1H), 7.44 (d, J ) 8.9 Hz, 1H), 6.76 (d, J ) 9.0 Hz,
1H), 3.34 (dd, J ) 17.1 Hz, J ) 5.7 Hz, 1H), 3.19-3.07 (m, 1H),
2.48 (dd, J ) 18.9 Hz, J ) 9.3 Hz, 1H), 2.36-1.90 (m, 6H), 1.67-
1.35 (m, 6H), 0.89 (s, 3H, CH3); 13C NMR (CDCl3, 75 MHz) δ
220.4, 195.5, 161.5, 139.3, 135.4, 131.0, 117.4, 115.8, 50.7, 47.8,
43.8, 37.4, 35.8, 31.5, 26.1, 26.0, 25.4, 21.4, 13.8.
1H NMR (DMSO-d6, 300 MHz) δ 10.68 (s, 1H), 7.34 (d, J ) 8.7
4-Hydroxymethylestra-1,3,5(10)-trien-17-one (4). To a solution
of 3 (300 mg, 1.01 mmol) in dry THF (60 mL) was added Pd black
(75 mg). The flask was flushed with H2 and fitted with a balloon
filled with H2. The mixture was stirred for 6 h and filtered through
Celite and the filtrate concentrated, which gave compound 4 as a
Hz, 1H), 6.74 (d, J ) 8.6 Hz, 1H), 2.92-2.70 (m, 2H), 2.39 (dd,
J ) 18.6 Hz, J ) 8.1 Hz, 1H), 2.27-2.25 (m, 1H), 2.13-1.85 (m,
4H), 1.69 (d, J ) 8.4 Hz, 1H), 1.54-1.25 (m, 6H), 0.76 (s, 3H,
CH3).
4-(Aminomethyl)-17â-hydroxylestra-1,3,5(10)-triene (9). To
a suspension of LiAlH4 (300 mg, 8.82 mmol, 13 equiv) in THF
(20 mL) at 0 °C was added a solution of 8 (200 mg, 0.678 mmol)
in THF (20 mL). After addition, the resulting mixture was stirred
for 20 min at rt and then gently refluxed overnight (oil bath
temperature 70 °C). The mixture was cooled to rt and poured onto
ice-water, and the mixture was filtered through a pad of Celite.
The filtrate was extracted with Et2O, and the combined extracts
were washed with brine and then dried (Na2SO4), filtered, and
concentrated. The residue was subjected to chromatography (ethyl
acetate/methanol, 2:1) to give pure 9 as a yellow solid (120 mg,
59%): NMR spectra corresponded to that reported in the literature;17
1
white solid (300 mg, 99%): mp 201-202 °C; H NMR (DMSO-
d6, 300 MHz) δ 9.03 (s, 1H), 6.98 (d, J ) 7.2 Hz, 1H, H-1), 6.50
(d, J ) 7.2 Hz, 1H, H-2), 4.64 (s, 1H), 4.48 (s, 2H), 2.99-2.70
(m, 2H), 2.47-1.92 (m, 6H), 1.73-1.70 (m, 1H), 1.55-1.27 (m,
6H), 0.78 (s, 3H); 13C NMR (DMSO-d6, 75 MHz) δ 220.2, 153.8,
137.1, 130.7, 125.4, 125.1, 113.3, 55.0, 50.8, 47.7, 44.3, 37.8, 35.9,
31.9, 26.6, 26.3, 26.0, 21.6, 13.9; LRMS (EI) m/z 300 (M+, 63),
299 (43), 282 (M-H2O, 100), 240 (14), 225 (18); LRMS (EI) m/z
300 (M+, 64), 282, (100), 255 (15); HRMS (EI) calcd for C19H24O3
300.1725, found 300.1715.
4-Carboxyestra-1,3,5(10)-trien-17-one (5). To a solution of
80% sodium chlorite (312 mg, 2.73 mmol), sodium hydrogen
phosphate (528 mg, 4.41 mmol), and hydrogen peroxide (0.225
mL, 30% in water) in water (6 mL) at 0 °C was added portionwise
sodium hydrogen sulfite (143 mg, 1.2 mmol) with stirring. This
solution was added dropwise to a solution of 16 (436 mg, 1.27
mmol) in CH3CN (15 mL) at room temperature and the resulting
yellow biphasic solution vigorously stirred for 1.5 h. The reaction
was quenched with satd sodium sulfite (5 mL) and extracted with
EtOAc (5 × 15 mL). The combined organics were dried (Na2SO4)
and concentrated to give a white solid. This solid was dissolved in
MeOH (12 mL), and potassium carbonate (800 mg) was added.
The mixture was stirred for 2.5 h and then acidified with 1 N HCl
(pH 2 by pH paper) and diluted with water (40 mL). The resulting
suspension was stored at -20 °C for 3 h and then filtered and the
filter cake washed with cold water. The filter cake was collected
and dried over high vacuum to give acid 5 as a slightly off-white
solid (345 mg, 86%): mp 236-238 °C; 1H NMR (DMSO-d6, 300
MHz) δ 7.12 (d, J ) 8.3 Hz, 1H), 6.63 (d, J ) 8.7 Hz, 1H), 2.72
(broad d, J ) 5.5 Hz, 2H), 2.28-2.42 (m, 2H), 1.68-2.13 (m,
5H), 1.21-1.60 (m, 6H), 0.78 (s, 3H); 13C NMR (DMSO-d6, 75
MHz) δ 220.1, 173.0, 158.3, 137.7, 129.6, 128.0, 119.8, 114.1,
50.1, 47.7, 44.4, 37.7, 35.9, 31.9, 28.5, 26.7, 26.4, 21.6, 14.0; LRMS
(neg ESI) m/z 313 (M - 1, 100); HRMS (neg ESI) calcd for
C19H21O4 (M - 1) 313.1450, found 313.1440.
4-Methylestra-1,3,5(10)-trien-17-one (6). Compound 3 (50 mg,
0.168 mmol) was dissolved in dry THF (10 mL). This required
some gentle heating with a heat gun. Absolute ethanol (10 mL)
was added followed by Pd black (12.5 mg, 25 wt %). The flask
was purged with H2 and then fitted with a balloon filled with H2.
After 2 h, glacial AcOH was added (3 mL) and the solution stirred
for a further 16 h. The mixture was filtered through Celite and the
filtrate concentrated. The residue was purified by flash chroma-
tography (ethyl acetate/hexane, 1:4) to give 6 as a white solid (43.9
mg, 92%): mp 216-217 °C; 1H NMR (CDCl3, 300 MHz) δ 7.03
(d, J ) 8.7 Hz, 1H), 6.63 (d, J ) 8.8 Hz, 1H), 4.63 (s, 1H), 1.90-
2.90 (m, 12H), 1.36-1.71 (m, 6H), 0.83 (s, 3H); 13C NMR (DMSO-
d6, 75 MHz) δ 220.0, 153.2, 136.0, 130.5, 123.2, 121.8, 112.5,
50.8, 47.7, 44.2, 37.7, 35.8, 31.8, 27.4, 26.8, 26.3, 21.6, 13.9, 11.5;
LRMS (EI) m/z 284 (M+, 100), 199.1 (18), 160 (15); HRMS (EI)
calcd for C19H24O2 284.1776, found 284.1776.
1H NMR (DMSO-d6, 300 MHz) δ 6.94 (d, 1H), 6.43 (d, 1H), 5.00
(brs, 4H), 3.79 (s, 2H), 3.47 (s, 1H), 2.70-2.45 (m, 2H), 2.20-
1.10 (m, 13H), 0.61 (s, 3H); 13C NMR (DMSO-d6, 75 MHz) δ
156.6, 134.5, 130.4, 124.7, 123.3, 113.9, 80.5, 50.0, 44.4, 43.1,
39.6, 39.1, 37.1, 30.4, 27.6, 26.9, 26.7, 23.2, 11.7.
4-Vinylestra-1,3,5(10)-trien-17-one (10). To a solution of 7
(2.10 g, 6.05 mmol) and tributylvinyltin (2.0 mL, 6.8 mmol, 1.1
equiv) in DMF (40 mL) was added Pd(PPh3)4 (400 mg, 0.347 mmol,
5.7 mol %). The resulting mixture was degassed seven times using
liquid nitrogen and high vacuum before heating at 165-170 °C
for 24 h. After cooling to rt, the mixture was diluted with H2O and
extracted with ethyl acetate. The combined organics were washed
with H2O and brine and then dried (Na2SO4), filtered, and
concentrated. The residue was subjected to chromatography (ethyl
acetate/hexane, 1:3 to 1:2.5) to give 10 as a white solid (1.31 g,
73%): mp 188-189 °C; 1H NMR (CDCl3, 300 MHz) δ 7.14 (dd,
J ) 8.7 Hz, J ) 3.0 Hz, 1H), 6.79 (dd, J ) 8.7 Hz, J ) 3.3 Hz,
1H), 6.62 (ddd, J ) 18.3 Hz, J ) 12.7 Hz, J ) 3.0 Hz, 1H), 5.70
(dd, J ) 11.4 Hz, J ) 1.8 Hz, 1H), 5.53 (t, J ) 3.0 Hz, 1H), 5.52
(dd, J ) 18.0 Hz, J ) 1.8 Hz, 1H), 2.82-2.59 (m, 2H), 2.54-2.33
(m, 2H), 2.30-1.89 (m, 5H), 1.66-1.32 (m, 6H), 0.67 (s, 3H);
13C NMR (CDCl3, 75 MHz) δ 221.2, 150.8, 135.3, 132.4, 131.5,
125.6, 123.4, 120.5, 113.0, 50.4, 47.9, 44.2, 37.7, 35.9, 31.6, 27.9,
26.6, 26.1, 21.6, 12.8; LRMS (EI) m/z 296 (M+, 100), 281 (2),
239 (8), 211 (12), 172 (10); HRMS (EI) calcd for C20H24O2
296.1776, found 296.1780.
2-tert-Butylestra-1,3,5(10)-trien-17-one (11). To a solution of
E1 (7.00 g, 25.9 mmol) and tert-butyl alcohol (4.95 mL, 51.8 mmol,
2.0 equiv) in dry methylene chloride (300 mL) was added BF3-
(OEt)2 (9.80 mL, 77.3 mmol, 3.0 equiv) over a period of 1 h by
syringe pump. After being stirred for 2 h, the reaction was quenched
with satd aq NaHCO3, and the layers were separated. The organic
layer was washed with water and brine and then dried (Na2SO4),
filtered, and concentrated. The residue was purified by flash
chromatography (methylene chloride) to give 11 as a white solid
(8.1 g, 96%): NMR spectra corresponded to those reported in the
1
literature;25 mp 241-242 °C (lit.24 mp 244-245 °C); H NMR
(CDCl3, 300 MHz) δ 7.19 (s, 1H), 6.44 (s, 1H), 5.09 (s, 1H), 2.87-
2.75 (m, 2H), 2.53-2.40 (m, 2H), 2.30-1.90 (m, 5H), 1.70-1.40
(m, 15H), 0.91 (s, 3H); 13C NMR (CDCl3, 75 MHz) δ 221.5, 152.2,
135.1, 133.6, 131.2, 124.0, 116.6, 50.4, 48.1, 44.3, 38.5, 35.9, 34.5,
31.6, 29.7, 28.8, 26.5, 26.0, 21.6, 13.9.
4-Cyanoestra-1,3,5(10)-trien-17-one (8). This was prepared
according to the procedure of Labrie et al. with slight modifica-
tions.12 A mixture of 710 (500 mg, 1.44 mmol) and CuCN (300
J. Org. Chem, Vol. 72, No. 23, 2007 8829

Liu et al.
2-tert-Butyl-4-formylestra-1,3,5(10)-trien-17-one (12), 2-tert-
Butyl-4-(methoxymethyl)estra-1,3,5(10)-trien-17-one (13), and
Bis(2-tert-butylestra-1,3,5(10)-trien-17-one)-3-ylmethane (14).
Compound 11 (2.0 g, 6.13 mmol), dry paraformaldehyde (915 mg,
30.7 mmol, 5.0 equiv), and dry MgCl2 beads (2.33 g, 24.5 mmol,
4.0 equiv) were added to a dry 500 mL round-bottom flask under
Ar and then fitted with an unused septum. To this was added dry
THF (100 mL) followed by dry triethylamine (3.4 mL, 24.5 mmol,
4.0 equiv). The resulting stirred mixture was heated at 40 °C for
4.0 h (a blast shield was positioned in front of the flask). It was
then cooled to rt, diluted with ethyl acetate, and acidified with 1 N
HCl, and the resulting mixture was stirred 10 min and then extracted
with ethyl acetate. The combined extracts were washed with H2O
(51 mg, 1.34 mmol, 4.0 equiv). The reaction mixture was stirred
for 30 min at 0 °C. The solvent was removed in vacuo at 30 °C
(water bath), and the residue was acidified with 1 N HCl at 0 °C
and extracted with ethyl acetate. The combined extracts were
washed with H2O and brine then dried (Na2SO4), filtered, and
concentrated. The residue was purified by flash chromatography
(ethyl acetate/hexane, 1:2 to 1:1) to give 15 as a white solid (72
mg, 72%): the 1H NMR corresponded to that reported in the
literature;17 1H NMR (CD3OD, 300 MHz) δ 7.05 (d, J ) 8.4 Hz,
1H), 6.58 (d, J ) 8.5 Hz, 1H), 4.58 (s, 2H), 3.63 (t, J ) 8.5 Hz,
1H), 3.00-2.93 (m, 1H), 3.00-2.72 (m, 1H), 2.28-1.10 (m, 13H),
0.74 (s, 3H).
3-Acetyl-4-formylestra-1,3,5(10)-trien-17-one (16). To a solu-
tion of compound 3 (400 mg, 1.34 mmol) in dry pyridine (7 mL)
was added acetic anhydride (0.189 mL, 2.01 mmol, 1.5 equiv) and
the reaction mixture stirred. After 1.5 h, additional acetic anhydride
(0.063 mL, 0.5 equiv) was added, the mixture stirred for 1 h
followed by the addition of another 0.5 equiv of acetic anhydride,
and the reaction mixture stirred for 4 h. The mixture was
concentrated and the residue purified by flash chromatography (ethyl
acetate/hexane, 1:4) to give compound 16 as a white foam (436
mg, 95%): 1H NMR (CDCl3, 300 MHz) δ 10.39 (s, 1H), 7.54 (d,
J ) 8.5 Hz, 1H), 6.94 (d, J ) 8.4 Hz, 1H), 3.31-3.39 (m, 1H),
3.09-3.21 (M, 1H), 1.90-2.60 (m, 10H), 1.34-1.71 (m, 6H), 0.90
(s, 3H); 13C NMR (75 MHz) δ 220.2, 190.3, 169.5, 150.8, 140.5,
139.0, 131.8, 125.4, 120.6, 50.2, 47.6, 44.3, 36.8, 35.8, 31.5, 27.1,
26.0, 21.4, 20.8, 13.7.; LRMS (EI) m/z 340 (M+, 20), 298 (100),
241 (5); HRMS (EI) calcd for C21H24O4 340.1675, found 340.1671.
1
and brine and then dried (Na2SO4), filtered, and concentrated. H
NMR of the resulting solid revealed that the ratio of 12:13 was
7.9:1 and the ratio of 12:14 was 12.5:1. Subjecting the residue to
flash chromatography (ethyl acetate/hexane 1:4) gave 12 and 13
as an inseparable yellow solid mixture (1.68 g total or 1.47 g
aldehyde 12, 68%). 1H NMR of the mixture revealed that the ratio
of 12:13 after chromatography was 7.5:1. Dimer 14 was isolated
1
as a yellow solid (324 mg). Characteristic H NMR assignments
for 12: (CDCl3, 300 MHz) δ 12.80 (s, 1H), 10.34 (s, 1H), 7.47 (s,
1H); HRMS (EI) calcd for C23H30O3 354.2195, found 354.2187.
Characteristic 1H NMR assignments for 13: (CDCl3, 300 MHz) δ
8.16 (s, 1H), 7.20 (s, 1H), 4.73 (d, J ) 12.4 Hz, 1H), 4.65 (d, J )
12.4 Hz, 1H), 3.45 (s, 3H); HRMS (EI) calcd for C24H34O3
370.2508, found 370.2518. Characterization data for 14: mp dec
1
>170 °C; H NMR (CDCl3, 300 MHz) δ 7.24 (s, 2H), 5.40 (s,
2H), 4.02 (s, 2H), 3.04 (dd, J ) 16.8 Hz, J ) 4.8 Hz, 2H), 2.90-
2.79 (m, 2H), 2.55-2.29 (m, 6H), 2.21-1.97 (m, 8H), 1.67-1.23
(m, 18H), 0.93 (s, 6H); 13C NMR (CDCl3, 75 MHz) δ 220.9, 152.8,
134.7, 133.5, 132.2, 123.4, 121.6, 50.5, 47.9, 44.7, 37.6, 35.9, 34.8,
31.7, 29.7, 27.6, 27.0, 26.9, 25.2, 21.6, 13.9; LRMS (EI) m/z 664
(M+, 38), 339 (57), 326 (100), 311 (50); HRMS (EI) calcd for
C45H60O4 664.4492, found 664.4498.
17â-Hydroxy-4-(hydroxymethyl)estra-1,3,5(10)-triene (15). To
a solution of 3 (100 mg, 0.336 mmol) in EtOH/THF (30 mL, 2:1,
heated to make a solution then cooled) at 0 °C was added NaBH4
Acknowledgment. This work was supported by a Natural
Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)
Discovery Grant to S.D.T. We also thank NSERC for an
Undergraduate Summer Research Award (USRA) to B.K.
Supporting Information Available: 1H and 13C NMR spectra
of compounds 3-6, 10, 14, and 16. This material is available free
of charge via the Internet at http://pubs.acs.org.
JO7017075
8830 J. Org. Chem., Vol. 72, No. 23, 2007