Ammonium formate → Gabapentin Enacarbil

Participants

Reaction Steps

To a stirred suspension of ammonium formate (3.4 g, 54 mmol) in ethanol (34 mL), was added compound (15) (10 g, 27 mmol) together with 10% Pd/C (1 g) under a nitrogen atmosphere. After one hour, the reaction mixture was filtered and the catalyst washed with ethanol (2×10 mL). The filtrates were combined and evaporated. The crude product was dissolved in diethyl ether (150 mL) and the organic phase was washed with 2N HCl (100 mL), water (100 mL) and brine (100 mL). The ether layer was dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate and concentrated to give a viscous liquid that crystallized upon standing. The product was recrystallized using 1:10 ethyl acetate:heptane (100 mL) to give the product (11) as a white, crystalline solid (7.9 g, 88%), m.p 63–64° C.

Provenance & Evidence