A new route to 7-substituted derivatives of n-[4-(2-[2-amino-3,4-dihydro-4-oxo-7H-pyrrolo(2,3-d)pyrimidin-5-yl]ethyl)benzoyl]-L-glutamic acid [ALIMTA (LY231514, MTA)

Alkylation of various primary amines with crotyl bromide, followed by DMAP-promoted acylation with methyl malonyl chloride to 4 and then manganic triacetate dihydrate/cupric acetate induced radical cyclization, gave 1-substituted-4-vinyl-3-carbomethoxy-2-pyrrolidinones (5). Thiation to the thiolactams 6 and guanidine cyclization then gave a series of 2-amino-3,4-dihydro-4-oxo-5-vinyl-7-substituted pyrrolo2,3-d]pyrimidines (7). Palladium-catalyzed C-C coupling with diethyl 4-iodobenzoylglutamate led in one step via an unexpected redox reaction to the diethyl esters 9 of a series of 7-substituted derivatives of ALIMTA (LY231514, MTA), from which the target analogues 10 were readily prepared by saponification. Attempted deprotection at position 7 was successful in only one case (9d, R = CH(2)C(6)H(3)(OMe)(2)(-3',4'), which resulted in a known pentultimate precursor (9, R = H) of ALIMTA. The 7-substituted derivatives 10 proved to be inactive in vitro as inhibitors of cell division.