Heterogeneous vs. homogeneous catalysis in manufacturing of terbinafine a case study for route selection of an industrial process

The antimycotic agent terbinafine can be prepared from the vinylchloride 1 and tert.-butylacetylene 2 using different homogeneous or heterogeneous palladium-catalysts. Alternatively terbinafine was synthesized from the allyl acetate 3 and N-methyl-N-(alpha-methylnaphtyl)-amine 4 with the aid of a polystyrene-supported Pd(PPh3)(4)-catalyst. All processes gave terbinafine in high yield and stereoselectivity. For the selection of a new production process of terbinafine ecological, economical, and technical aspects are compared.