Methanol → Esomeprazole Magnesium

Participants

Reaction Steps

Magnesium (0.11 g, 4.5 mmol) was dissolved and reacted with methanol (50 ml) at 40° C. with a catalytic amount of methylene chloride. The reaction was run under nitrogen and was finished after five hours. At room temperature a mixture of the two enantiomers [90%(-)-isomer and 10%(+)-isomer] of 5-methoxy-2-[[(4-methoxy-3,5-dimethyl-2-pyridinyl)methyl]sulfinyl]-1H-benzimidazole (2.84 g, 8.2 mmol) was added to the magnesium methoxide solution. The mixture was stirred for 12 hours whereupon a small amount of water (0.1 ml) was added in order to precipitate inorganic magnesium salts. After 30 minutes stirring, these inorganic salts were filtered off and the solution was concentrated on a rotavapor. The residue was now a concentrated methanolic solution of the enantiomeric mixture (i.e. the title compound contaminated with the (+)-isomer), with an optical purity (enantiomeric excess, e.e.) of 80%. This mixture was diluted with acetone (100 ml) and after stirring at room temperature for 15 minutes, a white precipitate was obtained. Additional stirring for 15 minutes and thereafter filtration afforded 1.3 g (50%) of the title compound as white crystals. Chiral analyses of the crystals and mother liquor were performed by chromatography on an analytical chiral column. The optical purity of the crystals and mother liquor was found to be 98.4 e.e. and 64.4% e.e., respectively. Thus, the optical purity (e.e.) has been enhanced from 80% to 98.4% simply by crystallising the Mg-salt from a mixture of acetone and methanol. The product was crystalline as shown by powder X-ray diffraction and the magnesium content was 3.44% as shown by atomic absorption spectroscopy. [α]D20 =-131.5°(c=0.5%, methanol).

Provenance & Evidence