Synthesis of 10‐thia‐5‐deazafolic acid and 2‐desamino‐2‐oxo‐10‐thia‐5‐deazafolic acid

The folate analogue, 10-thia-5-deazafolic acid, was obtained via a multistep synthetic sequence beginning with the known intermediate, 2,4-diaminopyrido[2,3-d]pyrirnidine-6-carboxaldehyde. Reduction of this aldehyde with sodium borohydride gave 2,4-diamino-6-(hydroxymethyl)pyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidine, which when heated in base gave 2-amino-3,4-dihydro-6-(hydroxymethyl)-4-oxopyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidine. Treatment of the latter compound with phosphorus tribromide in tetrahydrofuran afforded 2-amino-6-(bromomethyl)-3,4-dihydro-4-oxopyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidine, thus constituting the first successful synthesis of this elusive intermediate. The aforementioned bromomethyl compound reacted smoothly with the sodium salt of ethyl 4-mercaptobenzoate, and the resulting ester was saponified to give 10-thia-5-deazapteroic acid. Conventional peptide bond coupling to di-tert-butyl L-glutamate followed by treatment with trifluoroacetic acid afforded the target compound in respectable yield. Attempts to prepare its 5,6,7,8-tetrahydro derivative by catalytic hydrogenation were unsuccessful.