A new alternative synthesis of 5-cyanophthalide, a versatile intermediate in the preparation of the antidepressant drug citalopram

F Micheli, L Crippa, D Donati, R Di Fabio, C Leslie

Index: Micheli, Fabrizio; Crippa, Luca; Donati, Daniele; Di Fabio, Romano; Leslie, Colin Farmaco, 2001 , vol. 56, # 9 p. 715 - 718

Full Text: HTML

Citation Number: 2

Abstract

An alternative versatile synthesis of 5-cyanophthalide, a key synthetic intermediate in the preparation of the antidepressant drug Citalopram, is presented. The synthesis reported here allows the preparation of this important intermediate in three steps, avoiding the manipulation of environmentally detrimental cyanides.