More particularly, the present invention relates to an improved process for the preparation of bile esters derivatives of general formula (I), (1) wherein; Ro is H or OH, R, is H, a-OH or ß-OH, R2 and R3 are independently hydrogen, or straight or branched (C,-C2o) alkyl optionally substituted with aryl, R5 is a straight or branched (Cl-C4) alkyl and R6 is a straight or branched (Cl-C4) alkyl or a benzyl group.

The compounds of formula (I) are intermediates in the preparation of contrast agents, whose use in nuclear magnetic resonance diagnostics is extensively described in WO00/38738.

This latter document reports i. a. the synthesis of the compounds of formula (I), through a multistep process involving the transamidation of a N-protected- pyrrolidinone of formula (II),

with an amine (III) H2N-R* wherein R* is the reactive derivative of the convenient bile acid, to give an intermediate compound (IV) (fiv) followed by the selective removal of the N-protecting group R4.

The transamidation reaction maintains the stereochemistry at the chiral centre adjacent to the nitrogen atom of the starting pyrrolidinone and affords a secondary amide.

The selection of the ? 4 protecting group is important because its cleavage should take place under conditions that do not affect the R5and R6groups. In the same patent application the use of a carbobenzyloxy (Cbz) protecting group for R4, has been exemplified.

This prior art process, using a Cbz protecting group, presents however the following drawbacks which should be overcome for an industrial scale-up : the deprotection step involves the use of hydrogen and a catalyst; the intermediate N-Cbz protected compound is an oil which is not stored and, accordingly, is prepared just before use, thus rendering the overall industrial process much more complicated.

Protection of a pyrrolidinone nitrogen atom with a tert-butoxycarbonyl (Boc) group and reaction of the thus protected lactam with an amine has been described

by H. Kotsuki et al. in Tetrahedron Letters, 33, No. 34, pp. 4945-4948,1992. The results there reported show that in case of a N-Boc protected pyrrolidinone the reaction with an amine only proceeds when high pressures are employed, while the reaction with the same amine carried out under reflux but at atmospheric pressure, results in the complete recovery of the starting materials. The pressure values suggested in the above article are of the order of 10 kbar. These values might well be employed on a small, laboratory, scale but may create safety problems when used on a large, industrial, scale thus resulting to be practically unacceptable. In the same article, the Authors also report that in some cases sterically hindered amines did not react even at high pressures.

It has now been found that, contrary to what could be expected on the basis of the above article, it is possible to carry out the transamidation of a N-Boc- pyrrolidinone with an amine derived from a biliary acid under industrially acceptable conditions that do not require the use of high or anyway over atmospheric pressures.

It has furthermore been found that using the tert-butoxycarbonyl group as the N-protecting group in the synthesis of the compounds (I) above, it is possible to solve the technical problems of the prior art process. As a matter of fact selective cleavage of the tert-butoxycarbonyl group can be obtained under acidic conditions, thus avoiding the use of hydrogen, and the N-Boc protected pyrrolidinone esters are stable solid products that can be prepared in a separate step and stored without problems.

On the basis of theoretical considerations and in view of the similar chemical behaviour it is expected that also other protecting groups, such as the methoxycarbonyl, ethoxycarbonyl, 2-trimethylsilylethoxycarbonyl, cyclobutoxycarbonyl and 1-methylcyclobutoxycarbonyl groups, that like the Boc

one, can selectively be cleaved under acidic conditions, will represent a solution of the above technical problem.

The present invention therefore relates to a process for the preparation of a compound of general formula (I),

(I) wherein; Ro is H or OH, R, is H, a-OH or ß-OH, R2 and R3 are independently hydrogen, or straight or branched (C,-C2o) alkyl optionally substituted with aryl, Rs is a straight or branched (Cl-C4) alkyl and R6 is a straight or branched (Cl-C4) alkyl or a benzyl group, which process comprises subjecting a compound of formula (II)

(II) wherein R2, R3 and R5 are as defined above and R4 is selected from the group consisting of tertbutoxycarbonyl, methoxycarbonyl, ethoxycarbonyl, 2- trimethylsilylethoxycarbonyl, cyclobutoxycarbonyl and 1- methylcyclobutoxycarbonyl, to transamidation, by treatment with a compound of general formula (V) wherein Ro, R1 and R6 are as defined above, to give a compound of formula (VI) :

(VD and selectively cleaving the ? 4 protecting group under acid conditions.

In a preferred embodiment the present invention relates to a process for the manufacture of a compound of formula (I) wherein R2 and R3 are both hydrogen.

In a more preferred embodiment the present invention relates to a process for the manufacture of a compound of formula (I), wherein both R2 and R3 are hydrogen and R5 is a straight (C,-C4) alkyl group, and even more preferably it is a methyl group.

In the above process the transamidation reaction of the first step is generally carried out by reacting one mole of the amine of formula (V), wherein Ro, R1, and R6 are as defined above, with from about 1 to about 1.5 mole of compound (II), wherein R2, R3, R4, and Rs are as defined above, in an organic solvent selected from the class of dipolar aprotic or apolar organic solvents.

Suitable solvents are selected for instance from the group consisting of N, N-

dimethylacetamide, N, N-dimethylformamide, ethyl acetate, butyl acetate, toluene, xylene, p-cymene, diethylbenzene and the like aromatic solvents where the aromatic ring bears one or more linear or branched (C,-C4) alkyl groups.

Preferably in the process of the invention the N-protecting group R4 is selected from the group consisting of t-butoxycarbonyl, methoxycarbonyl, ethoxycarbonyl, cyclobutoxycarbonyl, and 1-methyl-cyclobutoxycarbonyl. More preferably R4 is a tert-butoxycarbonyl or a methoxycarbonyl group and even more preferably it is a tert-butoxycarbonyl group.

The reaction mixture is stirred at a temperature typically comprised between about 70 °C and about 130 °C, depending on the reactants and solvent employed.

As indicated above, the transamidation reaction does not require the use of high pressures as it easily proceeds at the atmospheric one.

Under these temperature and pressure conditions the transamidation reaction is complete generally in 12 to 30 hours.

The reaction mixture is then allowed to cool down to room temperature and the precipitate which forms is recovered by filtration, washed on filter and dried to yield the condensation product of formula (VI).

In the subsequent step the compound of formula (VI) is subjected to acid hydrolysis to remove the N-protecting group R4 and give the final product of general formula (I).

The reaction preferably consists in a slow addition of an inorganic or organic acid, under anhydrous (e. g. gas) or aqueous form, to a solution of the compound (VI) in a (C,-C4) alkanol, such as methanol or ethanol, or an inert organic solvent such as tetrahydrofuran, dioxane, and the like solvents, while maintaining a reaction temperature from 15 to 60 °C.

The resulting solution is kept at this temperature until removal of the R4 group is complete. Depending on the acid used in the conversion of (VI) to (I) and the temperature this will take from 0.5 to 20 hours.

In this step the acid compound is preferably selected from: HCI gas, HCI gas in MeOH, HCI in MeOH, HBr in CH3C02H, aq. H2SO4, CF3CO2H, CH3C02H, oxalic acid, methanesulfonic acid and p-toluenesulfonic acid.

The acid is added in a quantity corresponding to 1-3 motes per mole of (VI).

The obtained compound of formula (I) is isolated either as a salt of the acid used to cleave the protecting group or as a free amine of general formula (I).

The isolation of (I) as a free amine, is carried out by first neutralising the acidic mixture obtained at the end of reaction, by the addition of a base preferably selected from tertiary amines such as triethylamine or diisopropylethylamine.

The use of a hindered tertiary amine, affords the isolation of compounds (I) minimizing the possible formation of by products due to secondary reactions, e. g. hydrolysis of the ester groups or transamidation. In fact aqueous bases, like for example aq. NaOH or KOH, can hydrolyse the ester groups, and in particular the ester group present on the glutamic chain which is easier to cleave than the ester group in the cholanoic moiety. Furthermore, the use of a NH3 solution or of a primary or secondary amine can promote a transamidation reaction.

By using a tertiary amine the compound of formula (I) is isolated in this step in a yield ranging from 80 to 97%.

The starting compounds of formula (V), are prepared according to what is disclosed in WO-A-95/32741 or in PCT/EP00/08226. These compounds are esters of bile acids in which a 13-amino group is always present in position 3, replacing the hydroxy group.

The most important examples of bile acids of the present invention are selected from the group consisting of cholic, chenodeoxycholic, deoxycholic, ursodeoxycholic, and lithocholic acids represented by the following formulae.

Cholic Acid Chenodeoxycholic Acid Deoxycholic Acid Ursodeoxycolic Acid Litocholic Acid The compounds of formula (II) can be prepared from the corresponding 5- oxoproline derivative (VIl) (VIO by first esterification of the carboxy group by reaction with the suitably selected (C,-C4) alkanol by per se known methods, followed by introduction of the N- protecting group R4.

General methods for the protection of the 5-oxoproline esters can be derived from the following references that describes protection of the methyl ester with the tert-butoxycarbonyl group: JP05247047; Eur. J. Org. Chem., 1999,1581-

1584; Tetrahedron Lett., 1998,39,4789-4792; Tetrahedron Lett., 1993,34,5455- 5458; Chem. Pharm. Bull., 1991,39,1199-1212; J. Org. Chem. 1983,48,2424- 2426.

Alternatively and preferably the compounds of formula (11) are obtained by esterification of an L-glutamic acid derivative of formula (VIII), preferably in the form of an addition salt with a mineral acid, e. g. the hydrochloride, nez wherein R2 and R3 are as defined above to give the corresponding di-(C,-C4) alkyl ester (IX), (IX) preferably in the form of an addition salt with a mineral acid e. g. the hydrocloride, followed by cyclization of the above diester to yield the 5-oxoproline (C,-C4) alkyl ester (X) (X) and introduction of the suitably selected N-protecting group R4 to afford the compound of formula (II).

In particular, esterification of the compound o formula (VIII) is carried out by first suspending the compound in the suitably selected (C,-C4) alkanol and then adding at least 2 moles of SOCI2 per mole of (VIII). The temperature is maintained

at 0-5 °C during the addition, and then the reaction is completed in almost one day at room temperature. The solvent is evaporated and the thus obtained product is directly used, without any purification, in the next step. In this step the acid addition salt of the diester (IX) is neutralized with KOH in a (C,-C4) alkanol solution, and the precipitated KCI is filtered off. The filtrate is evaporated and then heated for few (1 to 7) hours, at a temperature varying from 80 to 130 °C to give the cyclized product to be used directly in the final step of introduction of the R4 protecting group.

Finally protection of the lactam nitrogen of (X) with the R4 protecting group is carried out according to classical methods of protection described in the literature. This can be easily achieved by reacting the compound of formula (X) with at least the equimolar amount of the corresponding compound (XI) R4-X (Xl) wherein, when R4 is a tert-butoxycarbonyl group, X is a tert-butoxy group so that the reaction is carried out with the corresponding carbonate, and when R4 is a methoxycarbonyl, ethoxycarbonyl, 2-trimethylsilylethoxycarbonyl, cyclobutoxycarbonyl or 1-methylcyclobutoxycarbonyl group, X is a chlorine atom so that the reaction is carried out with the corresponding chloroformate (i. e. methyl chloroformate, ethyl chloroformate, 2-trimethylsilylethyl chloroformate, cyclobutylchloroformate or 1-methylcyclobutyl chloroformate).

When R4, according to a preferred embodiment, is a tert-butoxycarbonyl group, and the introduction of this protecting group is carried out using the ditertbutyl carbonate, the reaction is preferably carried out adding at least the equimolar amount of the ditertbutyl carbonate to a solution containing one mole of the compound of formula (X) in the presence of a solvent selected from the classes of polar aprotic and apolar organic solvents, such as C,-C4 alkyl esters of

acetic acid, acetonitrile, aromatic solvents such as toluene, xylene and the like solvents. Ethyl acetate and acetonitrile are the preferred ones. The reaction is normally catalyzed by the addition of, for example, 4- (dimethylamino) pyridine, in a quantity ranging from 0.01 to 0.1 moles per mole of (X).

When R4 is a methoxycarbonyl, ethoxycarbonyl, 2- trimethylsilylethoxycarbonyl, cyclobutoxycarbonyl or 1-methylcyclobutoxycarbonyl group, and the introduction of the protecting group is carried out using the corresponding chloroformate, the reaction is typically carried out in the presence of a base such as an inorganic base, typically an alkali metal carbonate, e. g.

K2CO3, or a tertiary amine, such as triethylamine or diisopropylethylamine, in a polar aprotic organic solvent, such as acetonitrile. When a tertiary amine is used as the organic base, the reaction is preferably carried out in the presence of catalytic amounts of 4- (dimethylamino) pyridine.

The reaction is typically completed in a couple of hours at room temperature and the crude residue obtained upon evaporation of the solvent, is purified by washing and by crystallization from a solvent, preferably EtOAc and/or n-hexane.

The following examples further illustrate the process according to the present invention in one of its preferred embodiments. They should not be interpreted anyway as a limitation to the scope of the invention.

The TLC and HPLC methods reported in the following Examples are carried out as indicated below.

Thin Layer Chromatography: Silica gel plates used for the TLC are: 60 F254 Eluent A: 70: 25: 3 CHCI3/MeOH/25% NH40H Eluent B: 80: 20 EtOAc/CH2Cl2 Detection: exposure to C12 vapours + o-tolidine

Analytical HPLC methods: Method A Stationary phase: Chiralcel OD-H, 250 x 4.6 mm column packed by Daicel Temperature: 40 °C Mobile phase: isocratic elution : A/B = 93: 7 A = n-hexane, B = ethanol Flow rate: 1.0 mL min~ Detection (UV): 210 nm Injection : 20 L Sample concentration: 2.0 mg mL~1 (racemic mixture), 5.0 mg mL-1 (optically active) Method B Stationary phase: Lichrosorb RP-Select B 5 um, 250 x 4 mm column packed by Merck KGaA Temperature: 45°C Mobile phase: gradient elution, A = 0. 017 M H3PO4 in water, B = CH3CN Gradient timetable : min % A % B 0 82 18 30 15 85 45 15 85 Flow rate: 1 mL min~ Detection (UV): 210 nm Injection : 10 µL Sample concentration: 2 mg mL~

Method C Stationary phase: Chiralcel OD-H, 250 x 4.6 mm column packed by Daicel Temperature: 40 °C Mobile phase: isocratic elution : A/B = 95: 5 A = n-hexane, B = ethanol Flow rate : 1. 0 mL min-1 Detection (UV): 210 nm Injection : 20 µL Sample concentration: 0.4 mg mL~1 (racemic mixture), 1.0 mg mL-1 (optically active) Method D Stationary phase: Chiralcel OD-H; 250 x 4.6 mm column packed by Daicel ; Temperature: 40 °C ; Mobile phase: isocratic elution : A/B = 92: 8; A = n-hexane, B = ethanol Flow rate : 1. 0 mL min-1 ; Detection (UV): 210 nm ; Injection : 10 L ; Sample concentration: 2.0 mg mL~1 (racemic mixture), 5.0 mg mL-1 (optically active); Method E Stationary phase: Lichrosorb RP-Select B 5 cm ; 250 x 4 mm column packed by Merck KGaA ;

Temperature: 45°C ; Mobile phase: gradient elution ; A = 0.017 M H3PO4 in water, B = CH3CN Gradient timetable: min % A % B 0 82 18 30 15 85 45 15 85 Flow rate: 1 mL min~1 ; Detection (UV): 210 nm ; Injection : 10 µl ; Sample concentration: 1 mg mL~ Method F Stationary phase: Chiralcel OD; 250 x 4.6 mm column packed by Daicel ; Temperature: 40 °C ; Mobile phase: isocratic elution : A/B = 85: 15; A = n-hexane, B = 2-propanol Flow rate: 1.0 mL min- ; Detection (UV): 210 nm ; Injection : 20 pL ; Sample concentration : 0.7 mg mL-1 (racemic mixture), 3.0 mg mL-1 (optically active); Example 1 a) Preparation of (3ß,5ß,12α)-12-hydroxy-3-[[5-methyoxy-1, 5-dioxo-4 (S)-4- [ [ (1, 1- dimethylethoxy) carbonyl] amino] pentyl] amino] cholan-24-oic acid methyl ester (ll : R5= Me, R2=R3=H, R4=t-butoxycarbonyl ; V: Ro=OH, R, = H, R6=Me ; VI : Ro=OH, R1=H, R2=R3=H, R4=t-butoxycarbonyl, R5=Me, R6=Me)

(VD A suspension of (V) (625 g; 1.54 mol) and (II) (374.6 g; 1.54 mol) in toluene (1.54 L) was stirred at 90 °C for 24 h. The reaction mixture was then allowed to cool to room temperature overnight, the precipitate was recovered by filtration, washed with toluene and dried (40 °C ; 2 kPa) to afford (VI) as a 1: 1 clathrate with toluene (889.2 g; 1.2 mol).

Yield 78 %.

HPLC (method D): e. e. > 99.6 % HPLC (method E): 98 % The 1 H-NMR, 13C-NMR, IR and MS spectra are consistent with the indicated structure. b) Preparation of (3ß,5ß,12α)-3-[[4 (S)-4-amino-5-methoxy-1,5- dioxopentyl] amino]-12-hydroxycholan-24-oic acid methyl ester (I : Ro=OH, R1=H, R2=R3=H, R5=R6=Me)

(vu To a solution of the compound obtained in step a) as a 1: 1 clathrate with toluene (231.6 g; 0.31 mol), in MeOH (1.16 L), methanesulfonic acid (56.7 g; 0.6 mol) was slowly added while maintaining the reaction temperature below 20 °C. The resulting solution was stirred at r. t. for 24 h. Then diisopropylethylamine (77.6 g; 0.6 mol) was added and the solution was evaporated to a crude residue that was taken up with water. After one hour stirring at r. t. the solid was filtered, washed with water and dried to afford the compound of the title (149.1 g; 0.27 mol) as a white solid. Yield 87 %.

HPLC (method E): 98.4 % (area %) HPLC (method F): e. e. > 99.5% The 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, IR and MS spectra are consistent with the indicated structure.

Example 2 Preparation and isolation of (3ß,5ß,12α)-3-[[4 (5)-4-amino-5-methoxy-1,5- dioxopentyl] amino]-12-hydroxycholan-24-oic acid methyl ester dihydrocloride A solution of the compound obtained in Example 1 a) as the 1: 1 clathrate with toluene (30 g; 40 mmol), in 2.5 M HCI in MeOH (100 mL) was stirred at r. t. for 15 h then the solution was seeded. After 2 h at 0 °C, the solid was filtered, washed with cold 1.5 M HCI in MeOH (30 mL) and dried to obtain the compound of the title (21.4 g; 34.4 mmol) containing a further mole of HCI as a white solid.

Yield 86 %.

TLC: (eluent B) Rf 0. 68 HPLC (method E): 96.9 % (area %) HPLC (method F): e. e. > 99.5 % Aroentometric titer (0.1 N AgNO3) : 97.3 % The H-NMR, 13C-NMR, IR and MS spectra are consistent with the indicated structure.

Example 3 Preparation of the starting (S)-5-oxo-1,2-pyrrolidinedicarboxylic acid 1- (1, 1- dimethylethyl) 2-methyl ester a) Preparation of L-glutamic acid dimethyl ester hydrochloride (IX ; Rs=-Me, R2=R3=H) SOCI2 (732 g; 6.15 mol) was added over 2 h to a suspension of either L-glutamic acid hydrochloride (VIII ; R2=R3=H) (551 g; 3 mol) or L-glutamic acid (441.4 g; 3 mol) in MeOH (3.5 L) stirred at 0-5 °C. After about 3.5 h at r. t. the reaction mixture turned into a clear solution that was stirred for 20 h. The solvent was evaporated to give the above compound (650.8 g) as a thick oil that was used in the following step without any purification.

TLC: Rf 0.79 (Eluent A) Argentometric titer (0.1 N AgN03) : 105.3 % The 1 H-NMR, 13C-NMR, and MS spectra are consistent with the indicated structure. b) Preparation of L-5-oxoproline methyl ester (X; R2=R3=H, R5=Me)

3 M KOH in MeOH (1.08 L; 3.24 mol) was added over 0.5 h to a solution of the compound obtained in step a) above (650.6 g), in MeOH (1 L) causing the precipitation of KCI that was filtered off. The clear solution was concentrated, filtered (as the precipitation of further KCI occurred) and evaporated. The residue was heated at 115 °C at atmospheric pressure for about 1 h while distilling MeOH produced by the cyclization reaction to obtain a crude product (447 g) as a colourless oil which was used in the next step without purification.

TLC: Rf 0. 71 (Eluent A) HPLC: S/R ratio 99.0: 1.0 (Method A) The 1 H-NMR, 13C-NMR, and MS spectra are consistent with the indicated structure. c) Preparation of (S)-5-oxo-1,2-pyrrolidinedicarboxylic acid 1- (1, 1-dimethylethyl) 2- methyl ester (11 ; R2=R3=H; Rs=Me, R4=-COO-t-Bu) (g) Di-t-butyl dicarbonate (611 g; 2.8 mol) was added over 1 h to a cloudy solution of the compound obtained in above step b) (447 g), and 4- (dimethylamino) pyridine (6.1 g; 0.05 mol) in acetonitrile (2.8 L) stirred at 15-18 °C. After 2 h the solvent was evaporated. The residue was dissolved in EtOAc, washed with aq. pH 5.7 phosphate buffer and H20. After drying, the solvent was evaporated to give the

compound of the title as a thick oil. The latter was dissolved in EtOAc and the solution slowly diluted with n-hexane to induce crystallisation. After 15 h at r. t. the solid was filtered, washed with n-hexane and dried to afford the compound of the title (474.3 g; 1.95 mol) as a white solid.

Yield 65 %. The mother liquors and the washings were combined and evaporated.

The oily residue was treated with n-hexane to give a second crop of the compound of the title (73 g; 0.3 mol) (yield 10 %) as a whitish solid of purity similar to the one of the first crop. Overall yield from glutamic acid 75 %. mp: 70-71.5°C TLC: Rf 0.74 (Eluent B) HPLC (method B): first crop 99.6 % (area %) second crop 98.8 % (area %) HPLC (method C): S/R ratio first crop 100: 0 second crop 100: 0 The H-NMR, 13C-NMR, IR and MS spectra are consistent with the indicated structure.

The compound thus obtained can then be used directly in the process of the invention