Efficient Synthesis of a Highly Selective NPY-5 Receptor Antagonist:  A Drug Candidate for the Treatment of Obesity

A concise and practical synthesis of highly selective NPY-5 receptor antagonist 1 is described. The animopyrazine intermediate 3 was synthesized via either monobromination of aminopyrazine or palladium-catalyzed regioselective debromination of dibromopyrazine followed by an efficient Suzuki-Miyaura coupling. For the preparation of the spirolactone piperidine 2, significantly improved yield was achieved by using a combination of n-BuMgCl and n-BuLi. This protocol also dramatically increased the thermal stability of the aryllithium intermediate and eliminated the requirement for costly cryogenic conditions. The union of the spirolactone piperidine 2 and aminopyrazine 3 via a carbonyl group was accomplished using phenyl chloroformate delivering the target molecule in high yield.