Process for preparing temozolomide

1. A process for preparing Temozolomide base, the process comprising:

contacting Temozolomide hydrochloride with at least one organic acid to produce Temozolomide base; and

isolating the Temozolomide base.

2. The process of claim 1 , wherein the Temozolomide hydrochloride is contacted with the organic acid in a mixture of at least one water miscible organic solvent and water.

3. The process of claim 1 , wherein the process comprises:

charging a reaction vessel with the Temozolomide hydrochloride, the at least one organic acid, at least one water miscible organic solvent, and water to form a mixture;

heating the mixture to an elevated temperature to form a solution and filtering the solution at an elevated temperature;

cooling the solution to form crystals of Temozolomide free base and a mother liquor;

filtering to separate the crystals from the mother liquor, washing the crystals with a mixture of water and at least one organic solvent and drying the crystals; and

optionally recovering additional Temozolomide free base from the mother liquor.

4. The process of claim 3 , wherein the at least one water miscible organic solvent is selected from methanol, ethanol, n-propanol, isopropanol, acetone, tetrahydrofuran (THF), 2-methyltetrahydrohan, acetonitrile, N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF), N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMA), dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), N-methyl-pyrrolidone (NMP), and mixtures thereof.

5. The process of claim 4 , wherein the at least one water miscible organic solvent is acetone, THF, ethanol, or acetonitrile.

6. The process of claim 3 , wherein the at least one organic acid is selected from acetic acid, propionic acid, citric acid, malonic acid, fumaric acid, malic acid, tartaric acid, oxalic acid, and combinations thereof.

7. The process of claim 6 , wherein the organic acid is acetic acid.

8. The process of claim 3 , wherein said elevated temperature is from about 40° C. to about 80° C.

9. The process of claim 3 , wherein the organic solvent used for washing the crystals of Temozolomide free base is selected from diethyl ether, diisopropyl ether, t-butyl methyl ether, acetone, methylethyl ketone, methyl acetate, ethyl acetate, n-propyl acetate, isopropyl acetate, n-butyl acetate, isobutyl acetate, tetrahydrofuran (THF), acetonitrile, and mixtures thereof.

10. The process of claim 9 , wherein the organic solvent used for washing the crystals of Temozolomide free base is acetone.

11. A method for preparing Temozolomide free base, the method comprising:

producing a mother liquor according to claim 3 ;

eluting the mother liquor through a column containing a weakly basic ion exchange resin, to produce an eluate containing Temozolomide free base;

combining Temozolomide hydrochloride with the eluate to produce a mixture of the eluate and Temozolomide hydrochloride;

heating the mixture to an elevated temperature to produce a solution, and filtering the solution at an elevated temperature;

cooling the solution to crystallize Temozolomide free base;

filtering the crystals, washing the crystals with a mixture of water and at least one organic solvent and drying the crystals; and

optionally regenerating the resin and repeating the previous steps.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the ion exchange resin is a weakly basic anionic resin selected from Lewatit Mono Plus™ MP 64, Dowex Marathon WBA, Dowex Marathon WBA-2, Resindion A-329, and Amberlite 93.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the ion exchange resin is Lewatit Mono Plus™ MP 64, and the ratio between the resin and the volume of the loaded mother liquor solution is about 1/5 (gram/ml).

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the mother liquor is eluted with a solvent selected from methanol, ethanol, n-propanol, isopropanol, n-butanol, sec-butanol, acetone, methylethyl ketone, diethyl ketone, methylpropyl ketone, tetrahydrofuran (THF), acetonitrile, and mixtures thereof.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the mother liquor is eluted with a mixture of water and acetonitrile, wherein the ratio between the water and the acetonitrile is 55/45 v/v.

16. The method of claim 11 , further comprising regenerating the resin after eluting the mother liquor.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the the regeneration comprises washing the resin with a 1% solution of NaOH and washing the resin with an 8% solution of NaCl.

18. The process of claim 3 , wherein the product is obtained in about 90% yield, and in a purity of at least 98.5%.

19. The process of claim 3 , wherein the product is obtained in about 90% yield, and in a purity over 99.8%.

20. The process of claim 1 , further comprising preparing the Temozolomide hydrochloride by hydrolyzing 8-cyano-3-methyl-[3H]-imidazo-[5,1-d]-tetrazin-4-one with aqueous hydrochloric acid, to thereby produce a reaction mixture containing Temozolomide hydrochloride,

adding an organic solvent to the reaction mixture to thereby produce crystals of Temozolomide HCl;

filtering the crystals of Temozolomide HCl, washing the crystals with an organic solvent and drying the crystals.

21. The process of claim 20 , wherein the aqueous hydrochloric acid reagent has a concentration of from 36.5-38% and the weight/volume ratio between the starting material 8-cyano-3-methyl-[3H]-imidazo-[5,1-di-tetrazin-4-one and the hydrochloric acid solution is about 1/5 gram/ml.

22. The process of claim 20 , wherein the organic solvent in the reaction mixture is selected from methanol, ethanol, n-propanol, isopropanol, n-butanol, secbutanol, isobutanol, acetone, methylethyl ketone, diethyl ketone, methylpropyl ketone, tetrahydrofuran (THF), acetonitrile, and mixtures thereof.

23. The process of claim 22 , wherein the organic solvent is acetone.

24. The process of claim 20 , wherein the hydrolysis is carried out at a temperature of from 32-35° C.

25. The process of claim 20 , wherein the purity of Temozolomide hydrochloride obtained is at least 98.5% (by HPLC).

26. The process of claim 20 , wherein the purity of Temozolomide hydrochloride obtained is at least 99.5% (by HPLC).