Development of the Commercial Route for the Manufacture of a 5-Lipoxygenase Inhibitor PF-04191834

A de novo three-step-one-pot process for the formation of PF-04191834 was developed. This methodology employed inexpensive, odorless, and readily available commodity chemical iso-octyl-3-mercaptopropionate as a sulfur source, which could be a general alternative to the popular TIPS-SH in the formation of diarylthioethers via Migita coupling. A kinetic study revealed that, at high temperature, reductive elimination could be the rate-limiting step in the catalytic cycle, which opens pathways for the generation of undesired impurities. By proper control of the reaction conditions, the desired API was synthesized in >70% crude yield and in 55% isolated yield after vigorous purifications. This process was successfully demonstrated on a 20 kg scale.