Development of concise two-step catalytic approach towards lasofoxifene precursor nafoxidine

We have elaborated a two-step catalytic approach to nafoxidine, a key precursor to lasofoxifene. Firstly, an efficient α-arylation of 6-methoxy-3,4-dihydronaphthalen-1(2H)-one with chlorobenzene was developed, which operates at low 0.1 mol% Pd-132 catalyst loading in the presence of 1.9 equivalents of sodium tert-butoxide at 60 °C in 1,4-dioxane and provides 6-methoxy-2-phenyl-3,4-dihydronaphthalen-1(2H)-one in 90% yield. Secondly, we have demonstrated that 6-methoxy-2-phenyl-3,4-dihydronaphthalen-1(2H)-one can be converted to nafoxidine in 61% yield via CeCl₃ promoted reaction with (4-(2-(pyrrolidin-1-yl)ethoxy)phenyl)lithium, which is formed in-situ from the corresponding arylbromide precursor and n-butyllithium. Altogether, the shortest two-step approach to nafoxidine from simple tetralone commodity starting material has been developed with overall 55% yield. The developed synthetic approach to nafoxidine has several beneficial aspects over the one used in the synthetic route primarily developed for the preparation of lasofoxifene.