A short enantioselective pathway for the synthesis of the anti-influenza neuramidase inhibitor oseltamivir from 1,3-butadiene and acrylic acid.

A short synthetic pathway has been developed for the synthesis of oseltamivir (1) or the enantiomer (ent-1). The intermediates and conditions for this process are summarized in Scheme 1. The synthesis provides a number of advantages: (1) use of inexpensive and abundant starting materials; (2) complete enantio-, regio-, and diastereocontrol; (3) avoidance of explosive, azide-type intermediates; (4) good overall yield (ca. 30%, still not completely optimized); and (5) scalability.