Preparation of 21-halo steroids

Abstract

A process for the preparation of corticoids (XI) which comprises reacting a protected 17-keto steroid (II) with a metallated 1,2-dihaloethene (III).

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the past few years, 17-keto steroids have become much more readily available as starting materials for corticoid synthesis because of the discovery of a number of microorganisms which will cleave the C.sub.17 side chain of various steroid substrates, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,035,236, 3,684,657 and 3,759,791.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,041,055 claims a process for producing 17.alpha.-hydroxyprogesterone and corticoids from 17-keto steroids. The first step is addition of a 2-carbon moiety by formation of ethisterone. This is followed (1) by reaction with phenylsulfenyl chloride to form an allene sulfoxide, (2) Michael addition to form a sulfoxide, (3) reaction with a thiophile and (4) reaction with a peracid to give the 17.alpha.,21-dihydroxy-20-keto corticoid side-chain.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,216,159 claims a process of transforming a 17-keto steroid to the corresponding 16-unsaturated-21-hydroxy-20-keto steroid by reaction with a lithiated chlorovinyl ether. The objective of that patent is to provide .DELTA..sup.16 -C.sub.21 steroids which can then be used to make C.sub.16 functionalized corticoids.

The process of the present invention does not involve lithiated chloro vinyl ethers and does not produce .DELTA..sup.16 -C.sub.21 steroids.

The process of the present invention is similar to the process of U.S. Pat. No. 4,041,055 in that it transforms a 17-keto steroid to the corresponding corticoid, but does so by a different synthetic pathway.

The base catalyzed isomerization of .beta., .gamma. to .alpha.,.beta.-unsaturated sulfoxides is well known, see J. Am. Chem. Soc. 86, 3840 (1964) and the addition of nucleophiles to .beta.-halo-.alpha.,.beta.-unsaturated sulfoxides has been previously observed in simple systems, see J. Org. Chem. 35, 2831 (1970).

The present invention relates to a process for the preparation of 21-halo steroids useful in the preparation of pharmaceutically useful corticoids for which the essential material constituting a disclosure thereof is incorporated here by reference from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 264,593, filed May 18, 1981, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,357,279.

Claims

1. A process for the preparation of a 21-halo steroid of the formula ##STR1## which comprises (1) contacting a protected 17-keto steroid selected from the group consisting of compounds of the formula ##STR2## with a metallated 1,2-dihalogenated ethene of the formula ##STR3## to form the corresponding protected C.sub.21 -steroid selected from the group consisting of compounds of the formula ##STR4## respectively; (2) hydrolyzing the protected C.sub.21 -steroids (IVa-IVe) with acid to remove the protecting group and give a C.sub.21 -steroid of the formula ##STR5## (3) contacting the C.sub.21 -steroid (V) with a sulfenylating agent of the formula R.sub.22 --S--X (VI) to give a 20,21-dihalo steroid of the formula ##STR6## (4) contacting the 20,21-dihalo steroid (VII) with an alkoxide, or mercaptide of the formula OR.sub.20.sup..crclbar. or SR.sub.20.sup..crclbar., respectively, to give a sulfoxide of the formula ##STR7## (5) contacting the sulfoxide (VIII) with a thiophile to give a 20-unsaturated steroid of the formula ##STR8## and (6) hydrolyzing the 20,21-unsaturated steroid (IX) with acid where

A is a fluorine, chlorine or bromine atom,

M is a fluorine, chlorine or bromine atom,

R.sub.3 is alkyl of 1 thru 5 carbon atoms with the proviso that with the ketal (IIIc and IIIe), the R.sub.3 groups can be connected to form the ethylene ketal,

R.sub.3 ' is alkyl of 1 thru 5 carbon atoms,

R.sub.3 " is alkyl of 1 thru 5 carbon atoms,

R.sub.6 is a hydrogen or fluorine atom or methyl group,

R.sub.9 is a hydrogen or fluorine atom, hydroxyl group, -OSi(R).sub.3 or nothing,

R.sub.11 is (H), (H,H), (H, .beta.-OH), (H, .beta.-OSi(R).sub.3), or O,

R.sub.16 is a hydrogen atom or methyl group,

R.sub.20 is alkyl of 1 thru 4 carbon atoms or phenyl,

R.sub.22 is alkyl of 1 thru 5 carbon atoms, trichloromethyl, phenyl, phenyl substituted with 1-4 carbon atoms or substituted with 1 thru 3 nitro or trifluoromethyl groups, aralkyl of 7 thru 12 carbon atoms or --N--(R.sub.122).sub.2 or phthalamide,

X is a chlorine or bromine atom, phenylsulfone, phthalimide or imidazole group,

Z is --OR.sub.20 or --SR.sub.20,

metal is lithium, sodium or potassium,

.about. indicates the attached group can be in either the .alpha. or .beta. configuration, and

. . is a single or double bond.

2. A process according to claim 1, where for the 21-halo steroid (X), R.sub.6 and R.sub.16 are hydrogen atoms, where R.sub.9 is nothing and R.sub.11 is [H] which gives a .DELTA..sup.9,11 functionality in the C ring.

3. A process according to claim 1, where the temperature for the coupling reaction is from about -120.degree. to about -20.degree..

4. A process according to claim 1, where the coupling reaction is performed in a dry solvent.

5. A process according to claim 1, where the metallated 1,2-dihalogenated ethene (III) is selected from the group consisting of lithiated trans-1,2-dichloroethene, lithiated trans-1,2-chlorofluoroethene, lithiated trans-1,2-dibromoethene, lithiated trans-1,2-difluoroethene and lithiated trans-1,2-bromofluoroethene.

6. A process according to claim 5 where the metallated 1,2-dihalogenated ethene (III) is lithiated trans-1,2-dichloroethene.

7. A process according to claim 1, where the acid to remove the C.sub.3 protecting group is present in a catalytic amount.

8. A process according to claim 1, where the acid to remove the C.sub.3 protecting group is selected from the group consisting of p-TSA, hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, and phosphoric acid.

9. A process according to claim 1 where for the sulfenylating agent, R.sub.22 --S--X, X is a chlorine or bromine atom, and R.sub.22 is a phenyl group.

10. A process according to claim 1 where the temperature range for the sulfenylating reaction is from about -80.degree. to about 25.degree..

11. A process according to claim 1, where the base is an alkoxide.

12. A process according to claim 11 where the alkoxide is methoxide or phenoxide.

13. A process according to claim 1, where the reaction with base is performed in a polar solvent.

14. A process according to claim 1, where 1.5-2.0 equivalents of base are used.

15. A process according to claim 1 where the thiophile is selected from the group consisting of acetone, 3-pentanone, cyclohexanone, 1-(phenylthio)acetone, 2,4-pentanedione, trimethylphosphite, mesityl oxide, dimethyl malolate, 2,6-di-t-butylphenol, ethylvinyl ether, and dihydropyran.

16. A process according to claim 1 where the thiophile is a ketone.

17. A process according to claim 16 where the ketone is acetone.

18. A process according to claim 1 where the acid for hydrolyzing the 20-unsaturated steroid (IX) is p-TSA, hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, or phosphoric acid.

19. A process for the preparation of a 21-halo steroid of the formula ##STR9## which comprises hydrolyzing a 20-unsaturated steroid of the formula ##STR10## with acid where A, R.sub.6, R.sub.9, R.sub.11, R.sub.16, Z, .about. and . . . are defined in claim 7.

20. A process according to claim 19, where for the 21-halo steroid (X), R.sub.6 and R.sub.16 are hydrogen atoms, where R.sub.9 is nothing and R.sub.11 is [H] which gives a .DELTA..sup.9,11 functionality in the C ring.

21. A process according to claim 19, where the aqueous acid for hydrolyzing the 20-unsaturated steroid (IX) is p-TSA, hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, or phosphoric acid.

22. A process for the preparation of a 21-halo steroid of the formula ##STR11## which comprises (1) contacting a 20,21-dihalo steroid of the formula ##STR12## with an alkoxide or mercaptide of the formula OR.sub.20.sup..crclbar. or SR.sub.20.sup..crclbar., respectively, to give a sulfoxide of the formula ##STR13## (2) contacting the 20-halo steroid (VIII) with a thiophile to give a 20-unsaturated steroid of the formula ##STR14## and (3) hydrolyzing the 20-unsaturated steroid (IX) with acid where A, M, R.sub.6, R.sub.9, R.sub.11, R.sub.16, R.sub.20, R.sub.22, Z, .about., and . . . are defined in claim 1.

23. A process according to claim 22, where for the 21-halo steroid (X), R.sub.6 and R.sub.16 are hydrogen atoms, where R.sub.9 is nothing and R.sub.11 is [H] which gives a .DELTA..sup.9,11 functionality in the C ring.

24. A process according to claim 22, where the base is an alkoxide.

25. A process according to claim 24 where the alkoxide is methoxide or phenoxide.

26. A process according to claim 22, where the reaction with base is performed in a polar solvent.

27. A process according to claim 22, where 1.5-2.0 equivalents of base are used.

28. A process according to claim 22, where the thiophile is selected from the group consisting of acetone, 3-pentanone, cyclohexanone, 1-(phenylthio)acetone, 2,4-pentanedione, trimethylphosphite, mesityl oxide, dimethyl malonate, 2,6-di-t-butylphenol, ethylvinyl ether, and dihydropyran.

29. A process according to claim 22, where the thiophile is a ketone.

30. A process according to claim 29, where the ketone is acetone.

31. A process according to claim 22, where the aqueous acid for hydrolyzing the 20-unsaturated steroid (IX) is p-TSA, hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, or phosphoric acid.