DEHYDRATION AND DEPROTECTION

[0001] All references cited herein, including but not limited to patents and patent applications, are incorporated by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Onapristone (ONA) is an anti-progestin drug and progesterone receptor antagonist which was originally developed for contraceptive use. However, it has demonstrated substantial activity in advanced breast cancer. It is thought that ONA binds to the

progesterone receptor (PR), preventing the PR from binding to DNA, thereby inhibiting or eliminating PR-induced transcription. See, e _^ g., Klijn et al, Progesterone antagonists and progesterone receptor modulation in the treatment of breast cancer, Steroids, v. 65, pp. 825- 830 (2000); Jonat et al, The clinical efficacy of progesterone antagonists in breast cancer, Endocrine Therapy of Breast Cancer, pp. 117-124.

[0003] European Patent Number 0129499 ('499 Patent) refers to a process for the deprotection and dehydration of the final intermediate to obtain ONA as a crude mixture. According to the '499 Patent, any mineral or organic acid can be used for the removal of the ketal in the 3-position, the dehydration of the 5-hydroxy group, and the removal of the protecting group on the primary hydroxyl group at C23. Solvents for the process should be aqueous methanol, ethanol, or acetone, and the mineral acids should be used in catalytic amounts, according to the '499 Patent.

[0004] The '499 Patent discloses that heating the precursor to ONA in 70% acetic acid at 50 °C for 3 hours is the best process for the removal of the protecting groups and the dehydration of the 5-OH group. The '499 patent further teaches that (1) the reaction mixture is diluted with water, (2) neutralized with aqueous ammonia to pH 10.2, (3) extracted with ethyl acetate, and (4) after removal of the solvent, the reaction mixture is

chromatographically purified to crystallize the ONA with a 70% yield of 70%.

[0005] The same method was disclosed in Neef, G, Steroids, 1984, 44, 349. The authors reported no yield from the reaction. Chen, G. et al. Zhogguo Yaoke Daxue Xuebao, 1992, 23, 209 described the use of the same method at 50°C, but shortened the reaction time to 1 hour. After workup and chromatographic purification, the authors isolated ONA with a yield of 56% through crystallization. The THP protected 17B-OH intermediate was isolated from the reaction mixture. This intermediate is formed during the reaction due to a rearrangement of the THP protecting group from the primary alcohol to the tertiary alcohol in the 17 position. THP protected 17B-OH has been found to be the most stable with respect to hydrolytic conditions.

[0006] Other reaction methods include the use of P-Toluenesulfonic acid for hydrolysis of the ketal in C3, and dehydration of C5-OH (US Patent Number 5,693,628); sulfuric acid in methanol for the hydrolysis of ketals and dehydration of C5-OH (WO 2013016725); sulfuric acid in acetone (WO 1998031702); sulfuric acid in ethanol for the hydrolysis ketals and for the dehydration of C5-OH (US Patent Number 6,900,193) and HCl in methanol for the hydrolysis of the ketal and dehydration of the C5-OH (Gao, G. et al, Faming Zhuanti Shenqing Gonkai CN1087090). In each of the above cases, chromatographic purification prior to crystallization was necessary, and the structures of the starting material contained the C13 β methyl group.

SUMMARY

[0007] In one aspect, methods are described herein for the deprotection and dehydration of the compound of Formula I:

Formula I

[0008] to the compound of Formula II:

Formula II

[0009] In one aspect, the compound of Formula I is the precursor of Formula II onapristone (ON A). The compound of Formula I is also referred to herein as Steroid 1.

[0010] In another aspect, the compound of Formula II is the final product, onapristone (ONA).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0011] Before describing an exemplary aspect described herein, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the details of construction or process steps set forth in the following description. The aspect described herein is capable of being practiced or being carried out in various ways.

Aspects described herein provide methods of making onapristone by reacting the

with sulfuric acid in a solvent to deprotect the compound of Formula I. In this aspect, the reaction temperature is maintained below about 60°C; the reaction is neutralized with an inorganic base to form a solution; and the compound of Formula II (onapristone) is extracted from the solution.

Formula II (onapristone)

[0013] In another aspect, the sulfuric acid is diluted up to 80% with water. In yet another aspect, the sulfuric acid is diluted from 30 to 60% with water. In a further aspect, the sulfuric acid is diluted with 50% water.

[0014] The solvent can be selected from the group consisting of methanol, ethanol, acetone, n-propanol and isopropanol. In another aspect, the solvent is methanol.

[0015] In a further aspect, the reaction temperature is maintained between about -50 to about 60°C, -10 and 30°C, or from about 0 to about 15°C.

[0016] In yet another aspect, the inorganic base is selected from the group consisting of sodium hydrogen carbonate, sodium phosphate or ammonia. In a further aspect, the inorganic base is ammonia with a concentration between about 5 and 30 %. In a further aspect, the inorganic base is 30% ammonia.

[0017] In another aspect, the reaction with the inorganic base is performed at a temperature up to about 30°C, and at a temperature from about 0 to about 15°C.

[0018] In yet another aspect, the compound of Formula II is extracted from the reaction solution with ethyl acetate.

[0019] In another aspect, the compound of Formula II (onapristone) is extracted from the reaction solution by allowing onapristone to crystallize.

[0020] In a further aspect, the reaction solution containing onapristone can be concentrated (e.g., increasing the amount of onapristone in the solution using vacuum distillation).

[0021] Previously described acetic acid methods of making onapristone provided poor yields of onapristone, for example, 51% yield after treatment of steroid 1 with 70% acetic acid at 60°C (data not shown). In addition, the acetic acid method reaction is slow, requiring extension from one to two hours. Moreover, purifying onapristone from acetic acid method reaction did not improve the quality of the product. For example, new impurities were formed due to reactions with the C17-OH group.

[0022] The main products from the acetic acid method side reactions include CI 7 OAc and CI 7 ether, resulting from rearrangement. These by-products are difficult to remove, and prevent crystallization of the crude ONA resulting in the low yields of the reaction after purification.

[0023] Other methods (e.g., hydrochloric acid, oxalic acid or p-toluenesulfonic) produced either highly impure material or an incomplete reaction. Use of these acid catalysts are reported to be efficient for removal of the protecting group in the C3 position and the dehydration of the C5 OH group. However, these methods are not suitable for compounds having a THP-ether protecting group.

[0024] In one aspect, the reaction can be performed in aqueous solvent (methanol, ethanol, acetone, n-propanol or isopropanol) or in neat alcohol with concentrated or diluted sulfuric acid. In another aspect, the reaction is preferably run in methanol or ethanol. In yet another aspect, the most preferable solvent is neat methanol.

[0025] The amount of sulfuric acid has an influence of the reaction time. In one aspect, the reaction can be run with 0.1 equivalents to 10 equivalents of sulfuric acid either diluted with water or neat. In another aspect, the reaction is preferably run with diluted sulfuric with 10-90 % sulfuric acid in water with 1-5 equivalents of sulfuric acid. In yet another aspect, the reaction performs best with 3 equivalents of sulfuric acid diluted 1 : 1 with water.

[0026] The temperature and the reaction time are important parameters for the reaction. The lower the temperature, the slower the reaction. In one aspect, the reaction can be run at about -50 to about 60°C for about 10 minutes to about 10 hours. In another aspect, the reaction can be run at -10 to about 30°C for about 30 minutes to about 5 hours. In another aspect, the reaction can be run at about 0-15°C for about 1-2 hours.

[0027] The workup can be performed, for example, through the addition of aqueous inorganic bases (e.g., sodium bicarbonate, sodium phosphate, or ammonia). The temperature can be controlled to minimize the formation of impurities.

[0028] In another aspect, the inorganic base is added slowly to the acidic reaction mixture under temperature controlled conditions (e.g., 0-50°C, or 0-15°C).

[0029] In another aspect, the temperature can be controlled from 0-50 °C.

[0030] Acid hydrolysis to dehydrate position 5 and remove protecting groups to yield onapristone (ONA).

[0031] In another aspect, methods described herein provide about an 80% yield and about 88.9%) purity. The described methods omit the need for chromatographic purification as the crude ONA product is directly crystallized.

EXAMPLES

[0032] The following non-limiting example illustrate aspects described herein. Not every element described herein is required. Indeed, a person of skill in the art will find numerous additional uses of and variations to the methods described herein, which the inventors intend to be limited only by the claims. All references cited herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety.

[0033] Example 1 - Deprotection and Dehydration

[0034] 24 kg of a methanol solution containing 6.21 kg of AR-18-1109 and 4 L THF was concentrated in a vacuum. 20L methanol and 20 mL pyridine was added to the residue, and the mixture was concentrated in a vacuum. 20 L methanol and 20 mL pyridine were added to the resulting residue, and this mixture was concentrated in a vacuum. 6 L methanol and 19 mL pyridine was added to to the resulting residue, and the solution was cooled to 5°C under a nitrogen atmosphere.

[0035] 50% sulfuric acid was added slowly to the resulting solution while maintaining the temperature between 5-10°C. The reaction was allowed to proceed for 1 hour. Next, a solution of 5.0 L water and 5.0 L ammonia (28-30%) was slowly added to the solution, while maintaining the temperature below 15°C, resulting in formation of a suspension.

[0036] Next, 20 L of water and 20L of ethyl acetate were added. After stirring, the phases were allowed to settle and separate. The aqueous layer was extracted twice with 20 L ethyl acetate. The combined organic phases were washed with 3.5 L water and 10.5 L water.

Washing was continued with 2.5 L brine and 7.5 L of water. The organic layer contained about 4.7 kg of crude ONA (88.9% a/a). This material was pooled with 4.8 kg of crude material (89.9 % a/a) obtained with the same procedure performed with another batch of starting material.

[0037] The resulting solution of pooled product was concentrated until crystallization occurred. The crystallized solids were isolated, yielding 5.3 kg (96.1 %) of onapristone. After allowing the filtrate to stand overnight, the solids formed yielded another 0.78 kg of onapristone upon additional filtration. The mother liquor contained another 2.46 kg of onapristone which was collected as described below.

[0038] 15.1 L THF and 15.2 L isopropyl acetate were added to the 6.07 kg of crude onapristone. The mixture was stirred at 54°C until all material had dissolved. The THF was removed by vacuum distillation and addition of subsequent lots of isopropyl acetate. During distillation, onapristone started to crystallize yielding 5.12 kg of AR-18-11 10 (purity 97.2% a/a). The mother liquor contained about 0.97 kg of material (purity 84.9% a/a) from which 0.78 kg of ONA was obtained.