Practical synthesis of 4-aryl- and 4-heteroarylazetidin-2-ones: applications in the synthesis of the Taxol® side chain

A convenient, high-yielding procedure has been developed for the kilogram-scale synthesis of (±)-cis-3-acetoxy-4-phenylazetidin-2-one (3), a β-lactam that has been used in the semi-synthesis of Taxol®. The Staudinger reaction between hydrobenzamide (5) and acetoxyacetyl chloride in the presence of a base provided the α-benzylideneiminotoluene protected β-lactam 8. Without isolation of the intermediate β-lactam, the protecting group was removed under various reductive or hydrolytic conditions. The overall yields were about 80%. The synthesis of other (±)-cis-4-aryl- and 4-heteroarylazetidin-2-ones by this methodology has also been accomplished. These compounds are of value for the synthesis of 3′-Taxol® side-chain analogs and their preparation demonstrates the generality of this approach.