Effect of Solvent on Stereoselectivity in Pd/C (Type 39K)-Catalyzed Hydrogenation of Methyl 3-Oxo-4-Aza-5-Androstene-17-Carboxylate, a Key Intermediate for Finasteride and Dutasteride
July 2007
in “
Organic Process Research & Development
”
TLDR Alcoholic solvent improves selectivity in key intermediate for finasteride and dutasteride synthesis.
The study investigated the effect of solvent on stereoselectivity in Pd/C (Type 39K)-catalyzed hydrogenation of methyl 3-oxo-4-aza-5-androstene-17-carboxylate, a key intermediate used in finasteride and dutasteride synthesis. The researchers found that the type 39K Pd/C catalyst works well in this reaction, resulting in >92% a-isomer selectivity when the reaction was conducted in alcohols such as methanol, ethanol, and isopropanol as solvent medium without ammonium salts. The study concluded that an alcoholic solvent is necessary to have better selectivity of 2a.