Route Optimization and Manufacture of Multihundred Grams of a Ghrelin Receptor Agonist

A linear 14-step sequence was developed for the synthesis of an oxaspirocyclic cyclopentane-based candidate drug 1 containing four chiral centers. Compared with the first-generation synthesis with an overall yield of 0.7%, which also included several chromatographic purifications, the large-scale approach furnished >800 g of API 1 in 19% overall yield, and chromatography was avoided in all but two steps. The major achievements were the development of a Curtius rearrangement where hazards were minimized, a robust and safer dose-controlled allylzinc addition to a ketone, and a selective monohydrolysis of a diester.