Pharmacologically active catechol derivatives of formula I ##STR1## wherein R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 independently comprise hydrogen, alkyl, acyl, optionally substituted aroyl, lower alkylsulfonyl or alkylcabamoyl or taken together form a lower alkylidene or cycloalkylidene, X comprises an electronegative substituent such as halogen, nitro, cyano, lower alkylsulfonyl, sulfonamido, aldehyde, caboxyl or trifluoromethyl and R.sub.3 comprises hydrogen, halogen, hydroxy alkyl, amino, nitro, cyano, trifluoromethyl, lower alkylsulfonyl, sulfonamide, aldehyde, alkyl carbonyl, aralkylidene carbonyl or carboxyl or a group selected from ##STR2## wherein R.sub.4 comprises hydrogen, alkyl, cyano, carboxyl or acyl and R.sub.5 comprises hydrogen, cyano, carboxyl, alkoxycarbonyl, carboxyalkenyl, nitro, acyl, optionally substituted aroyl or heteroaroyl, hydroxyalkyl or carboxyalkyl or R.sub.4 and R.sub.5 together form a five to seven membered substituted cycloalkanone ring; wherein n is 0-1 and m is 0-7 and R comprises hydroxy, alkyl, carboxyalkyl, optionally substituted alkene, alkoxy or optionally substituted amino; ##STR3## wherein R.sub.8 and R.sub.9 independently comprise hydrogen or one of the following optionally substituted groups; alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, cycloalkyl, aralkyl, or together form an optionally substituted piperidyl group; wherein R.sub.10 comprises a substituted alkyl group.
The invention disclosed in this application relates to an improved process for the preparation of Entacapone. In one embodiment the process involves: (i) reacting a 3-alkoxy-4-hydroxy-5-nitrobenzadehyde with N,N-diethylaminocyanoacetamide in the presence of a mild acid catalyst and a solvent, to provide a 3-O-alkylated Entacapone, and treating the 3-O-alkylated Entacapone with an acid catalyst in the presence of an organic base to provide Entacapone.
Stable and crystallographically essentially pure polymorphic form A of (E)-N,N-diethyl-2-cyano-3-(3,4-dihydroxy-5-nitro-phenyl)acrylamide may be prepared by crystallizing crude synthesis product from lower aliphatic carboxylic acid such as formic or acetic acid with a catalytic amount of hydrochloric or hydrobromic acid added. The product is a potent inhibitor of catechol-O-methyl-transferase enzyme (COMT).
A method for the preparation of 3,4-dihydroxy-5-nitrobenzaldehyde by reacting 4-hydroxy-3-methoxy-5-nitrobenzaldehyde with a strong nucleophilic agent which may be created by reacting an aromatic mercapto compound with a strong organic or inorganic alkali metal base such as lithium hydroxide. The reaction is performed at elevated temperatures using an aprotic polar solvent. It is preferably carried out in an inert atmosphere.
Catechol derivatives of the formula ##STR1## wherein Ra, Rb and Rc have the significance given herein, the ester and ether derivatives thereof which are hydrolyzable under physiological conditions and the pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof are described and possess valuable pharmacological properties. In particular, they inhibit the enzyme catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT), a soluble, magnesium-dependent enzyme which catalyses the transference of the methyl group of S-adenosylmethionine to a catechol substrate, whereby the corresponding methyl ethers are formed. Suitable substrates which can be O-methylated by COMT and which can thus be deactivated are, for example, extraneuronal catecholamines and exogeneously-administered therapeutically active substances having a catechol structure.
Catechol compounds of formula I ##STR1## where R.sub.1, R.sub.2, R.sub.3 and X are as described herein are effective Catechol-O-methyltransferase inhibitors.
