Flobufen

We developed a highly regioselective addition of 1,3-dienes with simple ketones by nickel-hydride catalyst bearing DTBM-SegPhos ligand. A wide range of aromatic and aliphatic ketones directly coupled with 1,3-dienes, providing synthetically useful γ,δ-unsaturated ketones in high yield and regioselectivity. The asymmetric version of the reaction was also realized in high enantioselectivity by using novel chiral ligand DTBM-HO-BIPHEP. The utility of this hydroalkylation was demonstrated by facile product modification and enantioselective synthesis of ( R)-flobufen.

Glucuronidation of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory chiral drug flobufen and its major metabolite M17203 has been implicated as an important mechanism of flobufen elimination. To characterize flobufen metabolism by O-glucuronidation, new liquid chromatographic method (LC) coupled with ESI-MS was developed to detect the conjugates of flobufen and its metabolites formed in vitro in rat liver microsomes. Discovery DSC-18 LT cartridge columns were utilized for solid phase extraction (SPE) and Discovery C18 column (150 mm x 2.1 mm, 5 microm particle size) was used for LC separation. Chiral inversion of flobufen and its metabolites enantiomers was checked by special 1-allyl-(5R,8S,10R)-terguride column (150 mm x 4.6 mm). O-Glucuronidation of the S-enantiomer displayed a typical Michaelis-Menten kinetics, whereas the R-enantiomer exhibited a substrate inhibition type of kinetics. The study of glucuronidation of M17203 led to kinetics with sigmoidal characteristics.