A Concise Flow Synthesis of Efavirenz

Added on:
27 Feb, 2015

Efavirenz is an essential medicine for the treatment of HIV, which is still inaccessible to millions of people worldwide. A novel, semi-continuous process provides rac-Efavirenz with an overall yield of 45 %. This streamlined proof-of-principle synthesis relies on the efficient copper-catalyzed formation of an aryl isocyanate and a subsequent intramolecular cyclization to install the carbamate core of Efavirenz in one step. The three-step method represents the shortest synthesis of this life-saving drug to date.

† We gratefully acknowledge generous financial support from the Max-Planck-Society. We also thank Vapourtec for lending us a fully equipped E-Series Flow System.

  • Dr. Camille A. Correia1
  • Dr. Kerry Gilmore1
  • Prof. Dr. D. Tyler McQuade3
  • Prof. Dr. Peter H. Seeberger1 2 *
  • 1 Department of Biomolecular Systems, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Am Mühlenberg 1, 14476 Potsdam (Germany)
  • 2 Institute for Chemistry and Biochemistry, Freie Universität Berlin, Arnimallee 22, 14195 Berlin (Germany)
  • 3 Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306 (USA)
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