Roche-Syntex

In this experiment we present a new process involving a palladium metal-catalyzed reaction sequence. While the process employed in this experiment is not competitive with the Roche/Syntex process, it provides an interesting use of an organometallic catalysis for instructional purposes. 

Cymevene (Roche) Cymavene (Recardati) Denosine (Syntex)... 

In 1994 Roche purchased 49.5 percent of Syntex, the pioneer in oral contraceptives based in Palo Alto, California, whose story is reviewed in Chapter 10. Roche then formed Roche Bioscience, headquartered in Palo Alto, consolidating the management of its West Coast biotechnology properties. 

For the Syntex story, see the sponsored publication A Corporation and a Molecule The Story of Research at Syntex Corporation (Palo Alto, CA, 1966) Alfonso Gambardella, Science and Innovation The U.S. Pharmaceutical Industry during the 1980s (New York Cambridge University Press, 1995), pp. 99-101. For Roche Biomedical Laboratories and Roche Bioscience, see Thomas Derdak, ed.. International Directory of Company Histories, vo. 11 (Chicago St. James Press, 1993),... 

See also Roche Bioscience, which became Syntex s name. 

Syntex (now Roche Palo Alto) for example, once sold dental chairs, x-ray equipment, and hair care products. Many pharma companies were involved in cosmetics, agricultural chemicals, and veterinary products before deciding to focus once more on their core competency . 

The Roche GTE process has an overall yield of 63.5%, followed by the Merck plan at 23.5% and the Syntex G2 plan at 11.2%. Hexamethydisilazane, propionic anhydride, hydrochloric acid, and one of three equivalents of sodium propionate are sacrificial reagents in the GTE process. On comparing the Roche and Syntex G2 plans, Table 2.7 shows a reduction in the E-aux contribution from solvents and auxiliary materials of 77%, a reduction of 75% in the E-kernel contribution from raw materials, and a reduction in E-total of 81%. The difference in E-total factors is over 374 units of waste per unit of ganciclovir produced. 

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