Effective synthesis of 1beta-acyl glucuronides by selective acylation.

[reaction: see text] Acyl glucuronides are vital metabolites for many carboxylic acid containing drugs. We report an efficient new method for the chemical synthesis of these molecules by selective 1beta-acylation of allyl glucuronate with carboxylic acids catalyzed by HATU and then mild deprotection through treatment with Pd(PPh(3))(4) and morpholine. The method is effective for a range of aryl and alkyl carboxylic acids, including important drugs.

Glucuronidation of steroidal alcohols using iodosugar and imidate donors.

We report a study of the glucuronidation of a number of important steroidal secondary alcohols. The alcohols studied are androsterone 7, epiandrosterone 8, 17-acetoxy-androstane-3alpha,17beta-diol 9, 11alpha-hydroxyprogesterone 10, and 3-benzoylestradiol 11. These were first glucuronidated using the Schmidt trichloroacetimidate method with variations in acyl substituent (viz. derivatives 2 and 3), Lewis acid catalyst and order of addition. The results are contrasted with those obtained using our recently described glycosyl iodide donor 4, catalysed either by N-iodosuccinimide (NIS) or various metal salts.

Glycosidation with a disarmed glycosyl iodide: promotion and scope.

[reaction: see text] Glucuronyl iodide 1 has been studied in detail as a "disarmed" glycosyl donor. In a model reaction, using N-iodosuccinimide (NIS) as a promoter and 2-phenylethanol as acceptor, best results were obtained using NIS with I(2), followed by trimethylsilyltrifluoromethanesulfonate (TMSOTf). When a series of primary and secondary alcohols was glycosylated using these conditions, yields of 60-83% of beta-glucuronides were obtained. Various "nonheavy" metal salts also effectively catalyzed the model reaction but led to significant amounts of alpha-product with less reactive secondary alcohols.