Process for making chloro-substituted nucleoside phosphoramidate compounds

1. A process for making a compound of formula (i):

wherein said process comprises the steps:

(A) contacting a compound of Formula (B):

with pivaloyl chloride, in the presence of a base in an optional organic solvent A, for a time and at a temperature sufficient to provide a mixture of a compound of Formula (C) and a compound of formula (D):

wherein P is pivaloyl and optional organic solvent A is selected from acetonitrile, toluene, dichloromethane, tetrahydrofuran, 2-methyltetrahydrofuran, ethyl acetate, isopropyl acetate, N,N-dimethylformamide, pyridine, N,N-dimethylacetamide and N-methylpyrrolidone, and mixtures thereof;

(B) contacting the mixture of the compound of formula (C) and the compound of formula (D) with an oxidizing agent in an organic solvent B, in the presence of an optional pH modifier, for a time and at a temperature sufficient to provide a compound of Formula (E):

wherein P is pivaloyl and organic solvent B is selected from acetone, toluene, benzene, xylenes, cumene, cyclohexane, heptane, methylcyclohexane, dichloroethane, chlorobenzene, THF, anisole, ethyl acetate, isopropyl acetate, CPME, dichloromethane and mixtures thereof;

(C) contacting the compound of Formula (E) with a compound of formula CH 3 MgX in the presence of a salt of formula R 50 Cl 2 or (CH 3 ) 2 AlX in an organic solvent C, for a time and at a temperature sufficient to provide a compound of Formula (F):

wherein P is pivaloyl; R 50 is Mn or Zn; X is Br, Cl or I; and organic solvent C is selected from THF, 2-methyl THF, diethyl ether, dibutylether, cyclopentyl methyl ether, toluene, dimethoxyethane, anisole, xylenes and mixtures thereof;

(D) contacting the compound of Formula (F) with a dehydrating agent, in the presence or absence of catalytic TMSCl or catalytic HCl or elemental sulfur, in an organic solvent D for a time and at a temperature sufficient to form a compound of formula (G):

wherein P is a pivaloyl group and organic solvent D is selected from toluene, benzene, xylenes, cumene, cyclohexane, heptane, methylcyclohexane, dichloroethane, chlorobenzene, THF, anisole, ethyl acetate, isopropyl acetate, CPME and mixtures thereof;

(E) contacting the compound of formula (G) with a base in an organic solvent E for a time and at a temperature sufficient to provide a compound of Formula (A):

wherein organic solvent E is selected from organic alcohol solvents, toluene, benzene, xylenes, cumene, cyclohexane, heptane, methylcyclohexane, dichloroethane, chlorobenzene, DME, THF, anisole, ethyl acetate, isopropyl acetate, CPME, and mixtures thereof; and

(F) contacting the compound of formula (A) with HCl or a compound of formula R (4-n) SiCl n in an organic solvent E for a time and at a temperature sufficient to provide a compound of Formula (i), wherein R is C 1 -C 6 alkyl or phenyl, and n is 1, 2 or 3.

2. The process of claim 1 , wherein step (B) is replaced by the following steps (B′) and (B″):

(B′) contacting the mixture of the compound of formula (C) and the compound of formula (D) with BF 3 .OEt in an organic solvent B for at least one hour; and

(B″) contacting the solution resulting from step B′ with and oxidizing agent for a time and at a temperature sufficient to provide a compound of Formula (E):

wherein P is pivaloyl and organic solvent B is selected from acetone, toluene, benzene, xylenes, cumene, cyclohexane, heptane, methylcyclohexane, dichloroethane, chlorobenzene, THF, ethyl acetate, isopropyl acetate, CPME, dichloromethane and mixtures thereof.

3. The process according to claim 1 , wherein for step (A):

the base is pyridine; and

the organic solvent A is pyridine;

and wherein for step (B):

the oxidizing agent is (a) sodium hypochlorite/TEMPO in the presence of catalytic n-Bu 4 NBr or (b) sodium hypochlorite/TEMPO in the presence of catalytic n-Bu 4 NBr; and

the organic solvent B is toluene;

and wherein for step (C):

the compound of formula TMSCH 2 MgX is TMSCH 2 MgCl; and

the organic solvent C is toluene;

and wherein for step (D):

the fluoride ion source is a tetraalkyl ammonium fluoride or an alkali metal fluoride;

the base is an alkali metal carbonate or DBU; and

the organic alcohol is methanol;

and wherein for step (E):

the reducing agent is phenylsilane, tetramethyldisiloxane, diphenylsilane, triethylsilane or poly(methylhydrosiloxane); and

the solvent E is water, DME, an organic alcohol, tetramethyldisiloxane or a mixture thereof.

4. The process according to claim 1 , wherein for step (A):

the base is pyridine; and

the organic solvent A is pyridine;

and wherein for step (B):

the oxidizing agent is (a) sodium hypochlorite/TEMPO in the presence of catalytic n-Bu 4 NBr or (b) sodium hypochlorite/TEMPO in the presence of catalytic n-Bu 4 NBr; and

the organic solvent B is toluene;

and wherein for step (C):

the compound of formula TMSCH 2 MgX is TMSCH 2 MgCl; and

the organic solvent C is toluene;

and wherein for step (D):

the fluoride ion source is a tetraalkyl ammonium fluoride or an alkali metal fluoride;

the base is an alkali metal carbonate or DBU; and

the organic alcohol is methanol;

and wherein for step (E):

the reducing agent is phenylsilane, tetramethyldisiloxane, diphenylsilane, triethylsilane or poly(methylhydrosiloxane); and

the solvent E is water, DME, an organic alcohol, tetramethyldisiloxane or a mixture thereof.