Kinetics and Mechanism of the Base-Catalyzed Rearrangement and Hydrolysis of Ezetimibe

The pH-rate profile of the pseudo-first-order rate constants for the rearrangement and hydrolysis of Ezetimibe giving (2R,3R,6S)-N,6-bis(4-fluorophenyl)-2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-3,4,5,6-tetrahydro-2H-pyran-3-carboxamide (2) as the main product at pH of less than 12.5 and the mixture of 2 and 5-(4-fluorophenyl)-5-hydroxy-2-[(4-fluorophenylamino)-(4-hydroxyphenyl)methyl]-pentanoic acid (3) at pH of more than 12.5 in aqueous tertiary amine buffers and in sodium hydroxide solutions at ionic strength I = 0.1 mol L⁻¹ (KCl) and at 39°C is reported. No buffer catalysis was observed and only specific base catalysis is involved. The pH-rate profile is more complex than the pH-rate profiles for the hydrolysis of simple β-lactams and it contains several breaks. Up to pH 9, the log k_obs linearly increases with pH, but between pH 9 and 11 a distinct break downwards occurs and the values of log k_obs slightly decrease with increasing pH of the medium. At pH of approximately 13, another break upwards occurs that corresponds to the formation of compound 3 that is slowly converted to (2R,3R,6S)-6-(4-fluorophenyl)-2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-3,4,5,6-tetrahydro-2H-pyran-3-carboxylic acid (4). The kinetics of base-catalyzed hydrolysis of structurally similar azetidinone is also discussed. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association J Pharm Sci 103:2240–2247, 2014