Development of a chemical synthetic method for p-hydroxymethamphetamine glucuronide using Lewis acid catalyst

Abstract

 A simple and low-cost chemical synthetic method for p-hydroxymethamphetamine glucuronide using Lewis acid catalyst has been developed. The formation of by-product was minimized by using methyl 1,2,3,4-tetra-O-acetyl-β-D-glucuronate and boron trifluoride as glucuronyl donor and Lewis acid catalyst, respectively. In this combination, the yield of desired product was improved with the usage of three equivalent of glucuronate donor. The yield of p-hydroxymethamphetamine glucuronide in an optimized condition was about 50%, and was comparable to that of the previous methods.