A New Process for Antineoplastic Agent Clofarabine

Clofarabine is a promising DNA polymerase inhibitor currently in clinical trials for a variety of liquid and solid tumor indications. The efforts for development of a new manufacturing process for clofarabine are presented. This new process allows for the reliable and efficient production of drug substance in high anomeric excess and high overall purity, without using chromatography. The high anomeric selectivity is achieved by reacting 2-chloroadenine with 1-bromo-2-deoxy-2-fluoro-3,5-di-O-benzoyl-α-d-ribofuranose (4) and potassium tert-butoxide in a mixture of three solvents. Following crystallization, anomeric ratios exceeding 50 (β/α) are achieved. Deprotection and additional crystallization afford a clofarabine drug substance containing less than 0.1% of the α-anomer.