An Expedient and Multikilogram Synthesis of a Naphthalenoid H3 Antagonist

A facile and scaleable synthesis of potent and selective histamine H3 receptor antagonist 1 is described, starting from commercially available 6-bromo-naphthalene-2-carboxylic acid methyl ester 3a. The key intermediate, 2-(6-bromonaphthalen-2-yl)ethanol 5 was prepared in good yield (78%) and purity (99%) via a one-carbon homologation of 3a. The coupling of 5 with pyridazinone 12 was accomplished effectively by a copper-catalyzed cross-coupling reaction. Activation of the hydroxyl group of 4, followed by displacement reaction with 2(R)-methylpyrrolidine 13, afforded the free base of 1, which was subsequently converted to its corresponding salt. The new process consisted of eight chemical steps and one salt formation step and required no chromatographic purification throughout the synthesis. It has been successfully implemented on pilot plant scale to prepare over 10 kg quantities of the target compound 1 in 43% overall yield in high purity (99%) and with the desired physical properties.