Estradiol-3-methyl ether

The styrene double bond in 9(ll)-dehydroestradiol 3-methyI ether (1) or its 8-dehydro counterpart is reduced by potassium or lithium in ammonia without affecting the aromatic ring estradiol 3-methyl ether (2) is formed from both compounds. Reduction of the corresponding 17-ketones occurs with partial or complete reduction of the carbonyl group. Lithium... 

A carbonyl group cannot be protected as its ethylene ketal during the Birch reduction of an aromatic phenolic ether if one desires to regenerate the ketone and to retain the 1,4-dihydroaromatic system, since an enol ether is hydrolyzed by acid more rapidly than is an ethylene ketal. 1,4-Dihydro-estrone 3-methyl ether is usually prepared by the Birch reduction of estradiol 3-methyl ether followed by Oppenauer oxidation to reform the C-17 carbonyl function. However, the C-17 carbonyl group may be protected as its diethyl ketal and, following a Birch reduction of the A-ring, this ketal function may be hydrolyzed in preference to the 3-enol ether, provided carefully controlled conditions are employed. Conditions for such a selective hydrolysis are illustrated in Procedure 4. 

TABLE 1-5 Effect of Iron on the Birch Reduction of Estradiol 3-Methyl Ether by Lithium, Sodium and Potassium" ... 

A remarkable feature of the Birch reduction of estradiol 3-methyl ether derivatives, as well as of other metal-ammonia reductions, is the extreme rapidity of reaction. Sodium and -butyl alcohol, a metal-alcohol combination having a comparatively slow rate of reduction, effects the reduction of estradiol 3-methyl ether to the extent of 96% in 5 minutes at —33° lithium also effects complete reduction under the same conditions as is to be expected. Shorter reaction times were not studied. At —70°, reduction with sodium occurs to the extent of 56 % in 5 minutes, although reduction with lithium is virtually complete (96%) in the same time. (The slow rates of reduction of compounds of the 5-methoxytetralin type is exemplified by 5-methoxy-tetralin itself with sodium and f-butyl alcohol reduction occurs to the extent of only 50% in 6 hours vs. 99+% with lithium.) The iron catalyzed reaction of sodium with alcohols must be very fast since it competes so well with the rapid Birch reduction. One cannot compensate for the presence of iron in a Birch reduction mixture containing sodium by adding additional metal to extend the reaction time. The iron catalyzed sodium-alcohol reaction is sufficiently rapid that the aromatic steroid still remains largely unreduced. 

The solubility of many steroids in ammonia-tetrahydrofuran-/-butyl alcohol is about 0.06 A/, a higher concentration than has been reported in other solvent systems. Still higher concentrations may be possible in particular cases by suitable variation in the solvent ratios Procedure 3 (section V) describes such a reduction of estradiol 3-methyl ether at a 0.12 M concentration. A few steriods such as the dimethyl and diethyl ketals of estrone methyl ether are poorly soluble in ammonia-tetrahydrofuran-/-buty] alcohol and cannot be reduced successfully at a concentration of 0.06 even with a 6 hour reduction period. The diethyl ketal of estrone methyl ether is reduced successfully at 0.12 M concentration using a two-phase solvent system of ammonia-/-amyl alcohol-methylcyclohexane (Procedure 4, section V). This mixture probably would be useful for any nonpolar steroid that is poorly soluble in polar solvents but is readily soluble in hydrocarbons. 

To a solution of 1.38 g of estradiol 3-methyl ether (mp 118-119°) in 110 ml of anhydrous ether is added 140 ml of liquid ammonia followed by 1.4 g (42 eq per mole) of lithium wire in small pieces, and 10 min later 16 ml of absolute alcohol is added dropwise over a 10- to 20-min period. Occasionally frothing occurs during the last part of this addition but is easily controlled by stopping the stirrer temporarily. After removing most of the ammonia and carefully adding cold water, the product is extracted with ether, washed with Claisen alkali, water and saturated salt solution, and dried over sodium... 

The general reaction procedure and apparatus used are exactly as described in Procedure 2. Ammonia (465 ml) is distilled into a 2-liter reaction flask and to this is added 165mlofisopropylalcoholandasolutionof30g(0.195 mole) of 17/ -estradiol 3-methyl ether (mp 118.5-120°) in 180 ml of tetrahydrofuran. The steroid is only partially soluble in the mixture. A 5 g portion of sodium (26 g, 1.13 g-atoms total) is added to the stirred mixture and the solid dissolves in the light blue solution within several min. As additional metal is added, the mixture becomes dark blue and a solid (matted needles) separates. Stirring is inefficient for a few minutes until the mass of crystals breaks down. All of the sodium is consumed after 1 hr and 120 ml of methanol is then added to the mixture with care. The product is isolated as in Procedure 4h 2. After being air-dried, the solid weighs 32.5 g (ca. 100% for a monohydrate). A sample of the material is dried for analysis and analyzed as described in Procedure 2 enol ether, 91% unreduced aromatics, 0.3%. The crude product may be crystallized from acetone-water or preferably from hexane. 

Birch reduction of estradiol 3-methyl ether at 0.12M concentration, 50... 

Scheme 159) [549, 550]. Temperature and electrolyte concentration are found to have a profound effect on the reaction rate. The Bu4N(Hg) can be used for the reduction of -estradiol 3-methyl ether and the reaction has been shown to be more selective than the conversion methods based on alkali metal-ammonia reduction [551]. 

Absorption of orally administered, relatively lipophilic compounds, such as estrone or estradiol, occurs mainly in the intestine. The bacteria that colonize the gut are, however, particularly adept at converting those compounds by attack at the 17 position to very water-soluble derivatives that defy absorption. Alkylation of that position avoids this catabolic pathway and consequently enhances bioavailability on oral administration. The reaction of 17-keto steroids with nucleophiles illustrates the high degree of stereospecifity that is maintained in many steroid reactions approach of that carbonyl group from the (3 face is virtually forbidden by the presence of the adjacent 18 methyl. The reaction products consequently consist of almost pure isomers from attack at the a face. Reaction of estradiol with lithium acetylide thus gives ethynylestradiol (9-2) [9] the corresponding alkylation of estradiol 3-methyl ether (9-1) leads to mestranol (9-3) [10]. Both compounds are potent orally active... 

Ethynylestradiol 3-methyl ether, 4, 20 17-Ethynyl-19-nortestosterone, 8, 44, 52 16/3-(Ethylthio)estradiol 3-methyl ether, 5 Experimental conditions for Birch reduction, 25... 

Benzene [52], anisole, l,2,3,4-tetrahydro-6-methoxynaphthalene [53], and estradiol-3-methyl ether [54] have been reduced in a similar cathodic Birch reduction in water [52], aqueous diglyme, and aqueous tetrahydrofuran with TBA as electrolyte at room temperature TBA(Hg) has been proposed [53,54] to be a mediator in the reduction shown in Eq. (1) ... 

Reduction of derivatives of estradiol 3-methyl ether (I) and hydrolysis of the initially formed enol ether II provides an efficient route to 19-norsteroids (111) of considerable importance in hormone therapy. A. J. Birch, who introduced the method (1949), used sodium in liquid ammonia with ethanol as proton donor. A. L. Wilds and N.A. Nelson (1953) found that yields are improved by use of lithium in place of sodium and that lithium is effective in some cases where sodium is not. The Wilds-Nelson procedure, which became the standard one, employs ether as co-solvent and involves adding the ethanol lust terminal decomposition is done with water after evaporation of ammonia, Since this reaction is the key step in processes developed by O. D. Searleand Co. for the production of two I V-norsteroids... 

The product from Birch reduction of estradiol 3-methyl ether, nandrolone, 1-5, comprises one of the simplest androgens in the gonane series. This compound suffers extremely fast metabolic inactivation by attack at C17 most androgens consequently incorporate an additional substituent at that position. 

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