Water → Dihydrothebaine

Participants

Reaction Conditions

Reaction Steps

Thebaine (4.0 g dry basis, 12.9 mmol) is placed in a mixture of 1-methoxy-2-propanol (13.0 g) and ethylenediamine (1.3 g, 21.6 mmol, 1.68 equiv) and is heated to 110° C. p-Toluenesulfonylhydrazide (4.8 g, 25.8 mmol, 2.0 equiv) is dissolved at room temperature in a mixture of ethylenediamine (9.6 g, 159.7 mol, 12.4 equiv) and 1-methoxy-2-propanol (0.8 g) and the solution is added in portions to the thebaine mixture over 1 hour 20 minutes at such a rate that the batch temperature is maintained at ˜110° C. The reaction mixture is held at this temperature for 1 hour then cooled to room temperature and then water (24 g) is added while maintaining the batch temperature at ≦30° C. The resulting slurry (pH 11.4) is filtered and the product is washed with water (3×8 g) and dried at 40° C. to a constant weight to give 8,14-dihydrothebaine (3.68 g, 91.3% yield; 99.1 area % purity by HPLC).

Provenance & Evidence