Improvements in the Total Synthesis of Morphine

Abstract

The chiral 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline intermediates in the Rice and Beyerman routes to morphine, (+)-(R)-1-(3-hydroxy-4-methoxybenzyl)-6-methoxy-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline (6) and (+)-(R)-1-(3,5-dibenzyloxy-4-methoxybenzyl)-6-methoxy-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline (5), were prepared in high ee by ruthenium-catalyzed asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of the corresponding imine precursors (Noyori method). The yield of the key raw material in the Beyerman route, 3,5-dibenzyloxy-4-methoxyphenylacetic acid (1), starting from gallic acid methyl ester (7) was improved by a factor of 5 over previously described syntheses. Key steps in the new procedure are the selective formation of methyl 3,5-dihydroxy-4-methoxybenzoate (9) via the 3,5-diacetate and an improved benzylation of the hydroxyl groups in 9.