Process research and development for a tetrazole-based growth hormone secretagogue (GHS) pharmaceutical development candidate.

BMS-317180 (1) is a potent, orally active agonist of the human growth hormone secretagogue (GHS) receptor. This manuscript details the process research and development efforts that enabled the synthesis of the phosphate salt of 1 on a multi-kilogram scale. Key considerations in the development of this process focused on safe execution and the requirement for telescoped synthetic transformations (i.e., without isolation of intermediate products) to contend with a lack of suitably crystalline products.

Stereoselective synthesis of the nonproteinogenic amino acid (2S,3R)-3-amino-2-hydroxydecanoic acid from (4S,5S)-4-formyl-5-vinyl-2-oxazolidinone.

(4S,5S)-4-Formyl-5-vinyl-2-oxazolidinone (4b), which is readily obtained via a zinc-silver-mediated reductive elimination of alpha-d-lyxofuranosyl phenyl sulfone (3b), is successfully converted to the naturally occurring, nonproteinogenic amino acid (2S,3R)-3-amino-2-hydroxydecanoic acid (2). Also in this study, a facile "oxazolidinone rearrangement" reaction is uncovered during the attempted formation of the (methylthio)thiocarbonate derivative of the oxazolidinone alcohol 7.