New and Practical Synthesis of Montelukast Sodium, an Antiasthmatic Drug

A new and practical synthesis of montelukast sodium, an antiasthmatic drug, is described. The key steps are the synthesis of nitrile derivative 4 by chiral reduction of keto ester 9 using (−)-DIP-Cl, synthesis of vinylquinoline framework 16 by Wittig reaction, and Heck coupling of nitrile 4 with vinylquinoline 16. The method is operationally simple and suitable for the industrial production of the drug substance. Supplemental materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Synthetic Communications® to view the free supplemental file.