Method and intermediates for the preparation of derivatives of N-(1-benzhydrylazetidin-3-yl)-N-phenylmethylsulfonamide

1. A process for the preparation of a compound of formula (I):

wherein

R, R′ and R″ represent, independently of each other, one or more hydrogen, halogen (Cl, F, Br or I), cyano, nitro, linear or branched alkyl of 1 to 6 carbon atoms, linear or branched alkoxy of 1 to 6 carbon atoms, linear or branched alkyl carboxylate of 1 to 6 carbon atoms, trifluoromethyl or trifluoromethoxy; and

R′″ represents a linear or branched alkyl or perfluoroalkyl group of 1 to 6 carbon atoms or an aryl group optionally substituted with one or more radicals R″;

comprising

reacting a compound of formula (II):

wherein R and R′ are as defined above and R1 represents a methyl, trifluoromethyl, C 4 F 9 , C 8 F 17 or phenyl optionally substituted with a methyl, bromo or nitro;

with a compound of formula (III):

wherein R″ and R′″ are as defined above;

in an organic solvent optionally in the presence of water, at a temperature in the range of from about 20° C. to about 150° C. in the presence of mineral or organic base and of a phase-transfer agent.

2. The process according to claim 1 , wherein R and R′ represent chlorine in the para position and R″ represents a fluorine in positions 3 and 5, and R′″ represents a methyl, to form N-{1-[bis(4-chlorophenyl)methyl]azetidin-3-yl}-N-(3,5-difluorophenyl)methylsulfonamide.

3. The process according to claim 1 , wherein R1 is methyl.

4. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the solvent is either toluene; xylene; heptane; hexane; an ether solvent chosen from tetrahydrofuran or dimethoxyethane; or a chlorinated solvent chosen from monochlorobenzene, dichlorobenzene, chlorobutane or methylene chloride.

5. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the mineral or organic base is either a hydrogen carbonate, carbonate, phosphate or hydroxide of an alkali metal chosen from lithium, sodium, potassium or cesium; anhydrous tripotassium phosphate; an alkali metal alkoxide chosen from sodium or potassium methoxide, ethoxide, t-amyloxide or t-butoxide; or an amine base chosen from 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene (DBU), 1,5-diazabicyclo[4.3.0]non-5-ene (DBN) or tetramethylguanidine.

6. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the phase-transfer agent is a crown ether chosen from 12-Crown-4 (12-C-4), 15-Crown-5 (15-C-5) or 18-Crown-6 (18-C-6), pentaglyme (Glyme-6) or polyethylene glycol, PEG 400, or tis(dioxa-3,6-heptyl)amine (TDA-1).

7. The process according to claim 1 , wherein R and R′ represent chlorine in the para position and R″ represents a fluorine in positions 3 and 5, and R′″ is a methyl, the solvent is toluene, the base is tripotassium phosphate and the phase-transfer agent is tris(dioxa-3,6-heptyl)amine (TDA-1), to form N-{1-[bis(4-chlorophenyl)methyl]azetidin-3-yl}-N-(3,5-difluorophenyl)methyl-sulfonamide.