New synthetic route to potential medicines for type 2 diabetes

Researchers at Toyohashi Tech have found that the SN2 reaction of α-chloro-β-keto esters with phenols proceeded smoothly despite the fact that the reaction occurred at a tertiary carbon. They previously reported the highly enantioselective chlorination of β-keto esters with a chiral Lewis acid catalyst. Thus, in the two investigations, they have successfully demonstrated the enantioselective phenoxylation of β-keto esters. The novel presented method allows the synthesis of α-aryloxy-β-keto esters with high enantioselectivity.

"Etherification by the SN2 reaction is an older synthetic method called Williamson ether synthesis, but very few researchers have succeeded in conducting this reaction with tertiary halides," said Associate Professor Kazutaka Shibatomi. "This is the first example of the enantioselective synthesis of α-aryloxy-β-keto esters, which would be useful synthetic intermediates for new drug candidates."

Using this method, the researchers demonstrated the synthesis of some biologically active compounds, such as a GPR119 agonist and a PPARγ modulator, for the potential treatment of type 2 diabetes. The researchers expect that the present method will also be helpful in preparing other types of synthetic drugs.