Synthesis of Islatravir Enabled by a Catalytic, Enantioselective Alkynylation of a Ketone

Org Lett. 2020 Jun 19;22(12):4659-4664. doi: 10.1021/acs.orglett.0c01431. Epub 2020 Jun 9.

Abstract

The synthesis of the potent anti-HIV investigational treatment islatravir is described. The key step in this synthesis is a highly enantioselective catalytic asymmetric alkynylation of a ketone. This reaction is a rare example of the asymmetric addition of an alkyne nucleophile to a ketone through ligand-accelerated catalysis that was performed on a greater than 100 g scale. By leveraging a multienzyme cascade, a highly diastereoselective aldol-glycosylation was used to complete the target in eight steps.