Synthesis of a Spiroindolinone Pyrrolidinecarboxamide MDM2 Antagonist

A practical synthesis of a spiroindolinone pyrrolidinecarboxamide MDM2 antagonist 2 is reported. Cycloaddition of dipolarophile 3 with imine 30 afforded a complex mixture of diastereomers that were isomerized to the desired stereoisomer 31 by heating the mixture in the presence of DBU. After hydrolysis, the resulting product was resolved with a chiral amine to give an enantiopure acid which was converted to the target product 2. The process has been scaled up to a multihundred-gram scale. In addition, an asymmetric synthesis of 31 catalyzed by AgOAc and a chiral phosphine ligand was developed to give enantiomerically enriched 31, which was also converted to enantiopure 2.