Intermediate of statin drugs and preparation thereof

1. A method of preparing a chiral sulfone having formula I as a statin intermediate, comprising: (a) reducing a dioxo compound having formula II with a reducing agent to form a dihydroxy compound of formula II-1; (b) protecting the hydroxy groups of the dihydroxy compound of formula II-1 to form a 1,3-dioxane compound of formula II-2; and (c) oxidizing the 1,3-dioxane compound of formula II-2 with an oxidizing agent to form the chiral sulfone,

wherein R 1 is aryl or heterocyclyl, where the aryl or heterocyclyl is optionally unsubstituted or substituted with one or more substituents, where each of the substituents is independently alkyl, aryl, arylalkyl, halo, cycloalkyl, trifluoromethyl, nitro, cyano, trifluoromethoxy, amido, alkylcarbonyl, thiol or alkylthio;

each of R 11 and R 12 is independently alkyl; and

R 2 is alkyl, cycloalkyl, arylalkyl, heterocyclyl, aryl or benzyloxycarbonyl.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reducing agent is a hydride reagent, a borohydride reagent or a combination thereof.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the hydride reagent is a metal hydride reagent and the borohydride reagent is sodium borohydride, potassium borohydride or a combination thereof.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein in step (b), the dihydroxy compound of formula II-1 reacts with a compound of formula II-3 or formula II-4,

wherein each of R 13 and R 14 is independently alkyl.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the oxidizing agent is H 2 O 2 , CH 3 COOOH, CF 3 COOOH, perbenzoic acid, NaClO, NaClO 4 , periodic acid, Cr 2 O 3 , metal salts of dichromic acid, metal salts of permanganic acid, 3-chloroperbenzoic acid, KHSO 5 , N-methyl morpholine-N-oxide, magnesium salt of monoperoxyphthalic acid, dimethyldioxirane or a combination thereof.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein step (c) occurs in the presence of a catalyst, where the catalyst is Fe, W, V, Mo, Os or Ru, or a salt thereof, or an oxide thereof, or a combination thereof, or the catalyst is ammoinum heptamolybdate, sodium tungstate, disodium molybdate, FeCl 3 or a combination thereof.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: (d) preparing the dioxo compound of formula II by reacting a cyano compound of formula III with a thio compound of formula IV,

wherein X 1 is a good leaving group which is F, Br, Cl, I, mesylate, tosylate or benzyl.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the cyano compound of formula III reacts with the thio compound of formula IV in the presence of an inorganic base or an organic base, wherein the inorganic base is NaHCO 3 , KHCO 3 , Na 2 CO 3 , K 2 CO 3 , KOH, NaOH or a combination thereof; and wherein the organic base is triethylamine, pyridine or a combination thereof.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein in step (d), the cyano compound and the thio compound undergo a nucleophilic substitution reaction to form a compound of formula III-1; and the method further comprises: (e) reacting the compound of formula III-1 with an ester of formula III-3 by Blaise reaction to form the dioxo compound of formula II,

where X 2 is a good leaving group which is F, Br, Cl, I, mesylate, tosylate or benzyl.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein in step (e), the compound of formula III-1 is protected with a hydroxyl-protecting agent to form the compound of formula III-2 before reacting with the ester of formula III-3 by Blaise reaction to form the dioxo compound of formula II, where the hydroxyl-protecting agent is R 5 —C1 or hexamethyldisilazane,

wherein R 5 is a hydroxyl-protecting group which is methylsulfonyl, p-toluenesulfonyl, benzyl or

where each of R 7 , R 8 and R 9 is independently alkyl.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein

R 1 is

R 1a is H, alkyl, aryl, arylalkyl or cycloalkyl;

R 3 is H, alkyl, aryl, arylalkyl, trifluoromethyl, halo or nitro; and

X is O or S.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein

R 1 is

R 2 is (C 1 -C 4 )alkyl, aryl or aryl-(C 1 -C 4 )alkyl;

each of R 11 and R 12 is independently methyl or ethyl;

R 1a is (C 1 -C 4 )alkyl, aryl or arylalkyl; and

R 3 is H, alkyl, aryl, arylalkyl, heterocyclyl, trifluoromethyl, halo or nitro.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein

R 1 is

R 2 is t-butyl or phenylisopropyl; and

R 1a is phenyl.

14. The method of claim 9 , wherein X 1 is Cl; and X 2 is Br.

15. The method of claim 4 , wherein each of R 13 and R 14 is independently methyl.

16. The method of claim 10 , wherein R 5 is

and each of R 7 , R 8 and R 9 is independently methyl or t-butyl.

17. A compound of formula II, formula III-1, or formula III-2:

wherein each R 1 is independently heterocyclyl, where the heterocyclyl is optionally unsubstituted or substituted with one or more suitable substituents, where each of the substituents is independently alkyl, aryl, arylalkyl, halo, cycloalkyl, trifluoromethyl, nitro, cyano, trifluoromethoxy, amido, alkylcarbonyl, thiol or alkylthio;

each R 2 is independently alkyl, cycloalkyl, arylalkyl, heterocyclyl, aryl or benzyloxycarbonyl; and

R 5 is a hydroxyl-protecting group which is methylsulfonyl, p-toluenesulfonyl, benzyl or

 where each of R 7 , R 8 and R 9 is independently alkyl.

18. A compound of formula II, formula II-1, formula III-1, or formula III-2:

wherein each R 1 is independently

 where the

 is optionally unsubstituted or substituted with one or more suitable substituents, where each of the substituents is independently alkyl, aryl, arylalkyl, halo, cycloalkyl, trifluoromethyl, nitro, cyano, trifluoromethoxy, amido, alkylcarbonyl, thiol or alkylthio;

R 5 is a hydroxyl-protecting group which is methylsulfonyl, p-toluenesulfonyl, benzyl or

 where each of R 7 , R 8 and R 9 is independently alkyl, wherein

R 1a is H, alkyl, aryl, arylalkyl or cycloalkyl;

X is O or S; and

R 2 is (C 1 -C 4 )alkyl, aryl or aryl-(C 1 -C 4 )alkyl.