Synthesis of Imatinib

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Organic Process Research & Development  2008, 12, 490–495 

United States Patent 7674901

Process for preparation of imatinib base

An improved process for the preparation of imatinib base and its pharmaceutically acceptable acid addition salts by (a) reacting 2-methyl-5-nitroaniline with cyanamide in the presence of hydrochloric acid to obtain 1-(2-methyl-5-nitrophenyl)guanidine hydrochloride; (b) converting 1-(2-methyl-5-nitrophenyl)guanidine hydrochloride to 1-(2-methyl-5-nitrophenyl)guanidine nitrate; (c) condensing 3-acetylpyridine with N,N-dimethylformamide dimethyl acetal to obtain 3-(dimethylamino)-1-(3-pyridinyl)-prop-2-en-1-one; (d) reacting 3-(dimethylamino)-1-(3-pyridinyl)-prop-2-en-1-one with 1-(2-methyl-5-nitrophenyl)guanidine nitrate to obtain N-(5-nitro-2-methylphenyl)-4-(3-pyridinyl)-2-pyrimidineamine; (e) reducing N-(5-nitro-2-methylphenyl)-4-(3-pyridinyl)-2-pyrimidineamine using hydrazine in the presence of Raney nickel to obtain N-(5-amino-2-methylphenyl)-4-(3-pyridinyl)-2-pyrimidine-amine; (f) condensing N-(5-amino-2-methylphenyl)-4-(3-pyridinyl)-2-pyrimidine-amine with 4-chloromethylbenzoyl chloride in the presence of an inorganic base to obtain 4-(chloromethyl)-N-(4-methyl-3-(4-(pyridin-3-yl)pyrimidin-2-ylamino)phenyl)benzamide; and (g) condensing 4-(chloromethyl)-N-(4-methyl-3-(4-(pyridin-3-yl)pyrimidin-2-ylamino)phenyl)benzamide with an excess of N-methylpiperazine to obtain imatinib base; and adding water or a mixture of water and an organic solvent; and isolating said imatinib base. The process allows for using simple starting materials, while simultaneously avoiding a laborious isolation and purification of intermediates and the final product, thereby facilitating scale-up.

The synthesis of Bcr-Abl inhibiting anticancer
pharmaceutical agents imatinib, nilotinib and dasatinib
Benjamin J. Deadman,a Mark D. Hopkin,a Ian R. Baxendaleb and Steven V. Ley*a
 

Org. Biomol. Chem., 2013, Advance Article