In a course of development and preparation of landiolol (1a), a known ultra-short-acting β-blocker, process quality control by HPLC and LC-MS analysis consistently showed an impurity peak ranging from 0.05% to 0.15 % and exhibiting a molecular mass m/z 887. To identify the hitherto unknown impurity, we prepared one of the possible landiolol derivatives with the same molecular mass for proper spectral characterization (NMR and MS). Its equivalence with the unknown impurity was then confirmed by LC-MS analysis. Ultimately, using fragmentation patterns in LC-MS and selective two-dimensional NMR experiments, the structure of the impurity was assigned as [(4S)-2,2-dimethyl-1,3-dioxolan-4-yl]methyl 3-{4-[(2S)-2-hydroxy-3-(3-{4-[(2S)-2-hydroxy-3-[(2-{[(morpholin-4-yl)carbonyl]amino}ethyl)amino]propoxy]phenyl}-N-(2-{[(morpholin-4-yl)carbonyl]amino}ethyl)propanamido)propoxy]phenyl}propanoate (2). It was found that the impurity was present in two rotameric forms at room temperature. The synthesis and NMR characterization of (2) are discussed.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.