An environmentally responsible synthesis of the antitumor agent lapatinib (Tykerb)

Compared to the existing literature route to the lapatinib, a greener sequence has been developed as a representative example showcasing the technologies that are available today for applications to targets in the fine chemicals industry. Thus, a 5-step, 3-pot sequence to the targeted antitumor agent is presented that is done mainly in recyclable water, as opposed to the literature process which is done entirely in various organic solvents. Highlighting this work is the use of only 500 ppm of a Pd catalyst, as opposed to the 92 000 ppm (9.2 mol%) utilized previously.