Tandem process for preparing N-alkyl morphinans

1. A one pot process for preparing a compound represented by Formula (IV) from a compound represented by Formula (II), the process comprising:

a) contacting the compound represented by Formula (II) with a nucleophile to form a compound represented by Formula (III); and

b) contacting the compound represented by Formula (III) with carbon dioxide gas followed by an N-alkylating agent comprising R 17 X to form the compound represented by Formula (IV);

wherein:

R 1 and R 2 are independently chosen from hydrogen, halogen, hydroxy, amino, cyano, {—}OR 8 , hydrocarbyl, and substituted hydrocarbyl;

R 3 is chosen from hydrogen, hydrocarbyl, and substituted hydrocarbyl;

R 14 is chosen from hydrogen, halogen, hydroxy, {—}OR 8 , hydrocarbyl, and substituted hydrocarbyl;

R 8 Z are independently chosen from hydrocarbyl and substituted hydrocarbyl;

R 17 is chosen from cycloalkyls, allyls, and benzyls;

X is a leaving group;

Y is chosen from hydroxy, alkoxy, aryloxy, and acetal, wherein each dashed line indicates an optional double bond; and

the nucleophile is chosen from potassium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide, magnesium hydroxide, calcium hydroxide, potassium carbonate, and sodium carbonate.

2. The process of claim 1 , wherein:

R 1 , R 2 , and R 14 are independently chosen from hydrogen, halogen, hydroxy, alkyoxy, acyl, alkyl, alkenyl, aryl, substituted alkyl, substituted alkenyl, substituted aryl, alkoxycarbonyl, and aroxycarbonyl;

R 3 is chosen from hydrogen, alkyl, alkenyl, aryl, substituted alkyl, substituted alkenyl, substituted aryl, acyl, alkoxycarbonyl, aroxycarbonyl, acetal, ether, silyl ether, and alkylsulfonyl;

Z is chosen from alkyl, alkenyl, alkylaryl, aralkyl, aryl, substituted alkyl, substituted alkenyl, substituted alkylaryl, substituted aralkyl, and substituted aryl;

X is halogen or SO 2 OR, wherein R is alkyl, aryl, substituted alkyl, or substituted aryl; and

Y is methoxy, ethoxy, or ethylene acetal.

3. The process of claim 1 , wherein the compound represented by Formula (III) is not isolated; the nucleophile is chosen from an amide, an alkoxide, a hydride, alkali metal hydroxides, and alkaline earth metal hydroxides; the molar ratio of the compound represented by Formula (II) to the nucleophile is from 1:1 to 1:8; the N-alkylating agent is chosen from an alkyl halide, an alkenyl halide, an aryl halide, an alkyl methanesulfonate, and an alkyl p-toluenesulfonate; the molar ratio of the compound represented by Formula (II) to the N-alkylating agent is from 1:1 to 1:2; the process is conducted in the presence of a solvent system comprising a nonpolar organic solvent chosen from toluene and chlorobenzene and combinations thereof; the molar ratio of the nonpolar solvent to the compound represented by Formula (II) is from 0.5:1 to 20:1; and the process is conducted at a temperature from 0° C. to 100° C.

4. The process of claim 3 , wherein the solvent system further comprises a protic solvent chosen from water, methanol, ethanol, isopropyl alcohol, isobutyl alcohol, t-butyl alcohol, n-propyl alcohol, n-butyl alcohol, and combinations thereof.

5. The process of claim 3 , wherein the solvent system further comprises an aprotic solvent chosen from acetonitrile, 1-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone, N,N-dimethylacetamide, dimethyl sulfoxide, N,N-formamide, and combinations thereof; and the volume ratio of the aprotic solvent to the nonpolar solvent is from 1:1 to 1:10.

6. The process of claim 2 , wherein the nucleophile is potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide; the molar ratio of the compound represented by Formula (II) to the nucleophile is 1:4.1; the N-alkylating agent is chosen from cyclopropylmethyl halide, cyclobutylmethyl halide, allyl halide, and benzyl halide; the molar ratio of the compound represented by Formula (II) to the N-alkylating agent is 1:1.1; the process is conducted in the presence of a solvent system comprising toluene and dimethyl sulfoxide; the molar ratio of toluene to the compound represented by Formula (II) is 4:1; the volume ratio of toluene to dimethyl sulfoxide is 5:1; the process is conducted at a temperature from 60° C. to 90° C.; and the compound represented by Formula (IV) has a yield of at least 50%.

7. The process of claim 1 , wherein the optical activity of the compounds represented by Formulas (II), (III), and (IV) is chosen from (−) enantiomer, (+) enantiomer, and combinations thereof; and the configuration of C-5, C-13, C-14, and C-9, respectively, is chosen from RRRR, RRRS, RRSR, RSRR, SRRR, RRSS, RSSR, SSRR, SRRS, SRSR, RSRS, RSSS, SRSS, SSRS, SSSR, and SSSS, provided that C-15 and C-16 are both either on the alpha face or the beta face of the molecule.

8. A one pot process for preparing a compound represented by Formula (IV) from a compound represented by Formula (I), the process comprising:

a) contacting the compound represented by Formula (I) with an N-demethylating agent comprising LC(O)OZ and a proton acceptor to form a compound represented by Formula (II);

b) contacting the compound represented by Formula (II) with a nucleophile to form a compound represented by Formula (III); and

c) contacting the compound represented by Formula (III) with carbon dioxide gas followed by an N-alkylating agent comprising R 17 X to form the compound represented by Formula (IV);

wherein:

R 1 and R 2 are independently chosen from hydrogen, halogen, hydroxy, amino, cyano, {—}OR 8 , hydrocarbyl, and substituted hydrocarbyl;

R 3 is chosen from hydrogen, hydrocarbyl, and substituted hydrocarbyl;

R 14 is chosen from hydrogen, halogen, hydroxy, {—}OR 8 , hydrocarbyl, and substituted hydrocarbyl;

R 8 Z are independently chosen from hydrocarbyl and substituted hydrocarbyl;

R 17 is chosen from cycloalkyls, allyls, and benzyls;

L is halogen;

X is a leaving group;

Y is chosen from hydroxy, alkoxy, aryloxy, and acetal, wherein each dashed line indicates an optional double bond; and

the nucleophile is chosen from potassium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide, magnesium hydroxide, calcium hydroxide, potassium carbonate, and sodium carbonate.

9. The process of claim 8 , wherein:

R 1 , R 2 , and R 14 are independently chosen from hydrogen, halogen, hydroxy, alkyoxy, acyl, alkyl, alkenyl, aryl, substituted alkyl, substituted alkenyl, substituted aryl, alkoxycarbonyl, and aroxycarbonyl;

R 3 is chosen from hydrogen, alkyl, alkenyl, aryl, substituted alkyl, substituted alkenyl, substituted aryl, acyl, alkoxycarbonyl, aroxycarbonyl, acetal, ether, silyl ether, and alkylsulfonyl;

Z is chosen from alkyl, alkenyl, alkylaryl, aralkyl, aryl, substituted alkyl, substituted alkenyl, substituted alkylaryl, substituted aralkyl, and substituted aryl;

X is halogen or SO 2 OR, wherein R is alkyl, aryl, substituted alkyl, or substituted aryl; and

Y is methoxy, ethoxy, or ethylene acetal.

10. The process of claim 8 , wherein the N-demethylating agent is chosen from an alkyl haloformate, an alkoxyalkyl haloformate, benzyl haloformate, phenyl haloformate, vinyl haloformate, and 2-chloroalkyl haloformate; the proton acceptor has a pKa greater than 7 and is chosen from NaHCO 3 , KHCO 3 , Na 2 CO 3 , K 2 CO 3 , NaOH, KOH, and combinations thereof; the molar ratio of the compound represented by Formula (I) to the N-demethylating agent to the proton acceptor is from 1:1:1 to 1:3:6; the molar ratio of the compound represented by Formula (II) to the N-alkylating agent is from 1:1 to 1:2; and the compound represented by Formula (III) is not isolated.

11. The process of claim 8 , wherein the reaction of step (a) is conducted in the presence of a solvent chosen from benzene, chloroform, diethyl ether, ethyl acetate, n-propyl acetate, heptane, hexane, toluene, acetonitrile, 1-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone, N,N-dimethylacetamide, dimethyl sulfoxide, N,N-formamide, acetone, tetrahydrofuran, and combinations thereof; the molar ratio of the solvent to the compound represented by Formula (I) is from 0.5:1 to 20:1; the reaction of step (a) is conducted at a temperature from 0° C. to 60° C.; the reactions of steps (b) and (c) are conducted in the presence of a solvent system comprising a nonpolar organic solvent chosen from toluene and chlorobenzene and combinations thereof; the molar ratio of the nonpolar solvent to the compound represented by Formula (II) is from 0.5:1 to 20:1; and the reactions of steps (b) and (c) are conducted at a temperature from 0° C. to 100° C.

12. The process of claim 11 , wherein the solvent system further comprises a protic solvent chosen from water, methanol, ethanol, isopropyl alcohol, isobutyl alcohol, t-butyl alcohol, n-propyl alcohol, n-butyl alcohol, and combinations thereof.

13. The process of claim 11 , wherein the solvent system further comprises an aprotic solvent chosen from acetonitrile, 1-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone, N,N-dimethylacetamide, dimethyl sulfoxide, N,N-formamide, and combinations thereof; and the volume ratio of the aprotic solvent to the nonpolar solvent is from 1:1 to 1:10.

14. The process of claim 8 , wherein the N-demethylating agent is an alkyl chloroformate or phenyl chloroformate; the proton acceptor is NaHCO 3 or KHCO 3 ; the molar ratio of the compound represented by Formula (I) to the N-demethylating agent to the proton acceptor is from 1:1:1.5 to 1:3:3; the reaction of step (a) is conducted at a temperature from 0° C. to 60° C. and in the presence of a solvent chosen from chloroform or acetonitrile; the molar ratio of the solvent to the compound represented by Formula (I) is from 2:1 to 10:1; the nucleophile is potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide; the molar ratio of the compound represented by Formula (II) to the nucleophile is 1:4.1; the N-alkylating agent is chosen from cyclopropylmethyl halide, cyclobutylmethyl halide, allyl halide, and benzyl halide; the molar ratio of the compound represented by Formula (II) to the N-alkylating agent is 1:1.1; the reactions of steps (b) and (c) are conducted at a temperature from 60° C. to 90° C. and in the presence of a solvent system comprising toluene and dimethyl sulfoxide; the molar ratio of toluene to the compound represented by Formula (II) is 4:1; and the volume ratio of toluene to dimethyl sulfoxide is 5:1.

15. The process of claim 8 , wherein the optical activity of the compounds represented by Formulas (I), (II), (III), and (IV) is chosen from (−) enantiomer, (+) enantiomer, and combinations thereof; and the configuration of C-5, C-13, C-14, and C-9, respectively, is chosen from RRRR, RRRS, RRSR, RSRR, SRRR, RRSS, RSSR, SSRR, SRRS, SRSR, RSRS, RSSS, SRSS, SSRS, SSSR, and SSSS, provided that C-15 and C-16 are both either on the alpha face or the beta face of the molecule.