A key intermediate of diltiazem synthesis,
(2S,3S)-2,3-dihydro-3-hydroxy-2-(4-methoxyphenyl)-1,5-benzothiazepin-4(5H)-one
[(2S,3S)-1], has been efficiently
synthesized by an asymmetric reduction
of the prochiral ketone,
2-(4-methoxyphenyl)-1,5-benzothiazepine-3,4(2H,5H)-dione
(3), with NaBH4
and chiral α-amino acids. As the chiral sources,
β-branched-chain amino acids, such as
(S)-valine,
(S)-isoleucine, and (S)-tert-leucine,
were found to be effective. In particular, using
(S)-tert-leucine
as a ligand resulted in the formation of
(2S,3S)-1 with excellent
enantioselectivity. (95% ee for
cis-isomers). The addition of AcOH to the reaction
permitted further improvement of both conversion
and stereoselectivity. As a result, optically pure
(2S,3S)-1 could be isolated in 86%
yield. This
asymmetric reduction proceeded via dynamic kinetic resolution and made
it possible to control the
two adjacent asymmetric carbons through keto−enol
tautomerism.