Artemether → Npc182939

Participants

Reaction Steps

A process for the preparation of artemether from artemisinin comprising the steps of (a) dissolving the artemisinin in methanol, (b) reducing the artemisinin dissolved in methanol with sodium borohydride in a reaction vessel to produce a reaction mixture comprising dihydroartemisinin, (c) without isolating the dihydroartemisinin from the reaction mixture, adding an acid catalyst to the reaction mixture to cause conversion of the dihydroartemisinin to artemether, said steps (b) and (c) being conducted in a solvent consisting essentially of the methanol, and (d) recovering and purifying the artemether.

Provenance & Evidence