Syntheses of carbon‐14 labelled AJ‐9677, a specific β3‐adrenoceptor agonist

Two ¹⁴C‐labelled versions of AJ‐9677, a novel anti‐diabetic drug candidate, have been synthesized. The first, [acetic acid‐2‐¹⁴C]AJ‐9677, was synthesized via a four‐step process starting from 2‐chloro‐N,N‐diethyl[2‐¹⁴C]acetamide ( 3 ), and the second, [hydroxymethine‐¹⁴C]AJ‐9677, by a two step process from (R)‐3‐chloro[7‐¹⁴C]styrene oxide ( 8 ). When stored in the solid state both compounds undergo radiolytic decomposition in a similar manner, despite the labelled position being different, to give the dechlorinated derivative ( 12a, 12b ). Purification of the required product was achieved after derivatization to the methyl esters. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.