Synthesis of nevirapine and its major metabolite

Several synthetic methods were developed during the process optimization for the large scale synthesis of nevirapine (1), a non‐nucleoside inhibitor of HIV‐1 Reverse Transcriptase. The synthesis of its putative major metabolite 11‐cyclopropyl‐5,11‐dihydro‐4‐hydroxymethyl‐6H‐[3,2‐b:2′,3′‐e][1,4]diazepin‐6‐one (2) and the oxidation of 2 to the corresponding aldehyde 3, are described.