Designing chemical systems for precision deuteration of medicinal building blocks.

Dabbs, Jonathan D; Taylor, Caleb C; Holdren, Martin S; Brewster, Sarah E; Quillin, Brian T; Meng, Alvin Q; Dickie, Diane A; Pate, Brooks H et al. · Nat Commun · 2024

basic_science · Level V

Where this comes from

Abstract

Methods are lacking that can prepare deuterium-enriched building blocks, in the full range of deuterium substitution patterns at the isotopic purity levels demanded by pharmaceutical use. To that end, this work explores the regio- and stereoselective deuteration of tetrahydropyridine (THP), which is an attractive target for study due to the wide prevalence of piperidines in drugs. A series of d<sub>0</sub>-d<sub>8</sub> tetrahydropyridine isotopomers were synthesized by the stepwise treatment of a tungsten-complexed pyridinium salt with H<sup>-</sup>/D<sup>-</sup> and H<sup>+</sup>/D<sup>+</sup>. The resulting decomplexed THP isotopomers and isotopologues were analyzed via molecular rotational resonance (MRR) spectroscopy, a highly sensitive technique that distinguishes isotopomers and isotopologues by their unique moments of inertia. In order to demonstrate the medicinal relevance of this approach, eight unique deuterated isotopologues of erythro-methylphenidate were also prepared.

Medical subject headings