Gates Thirty-One Step Synthesis Report

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Following Figure 1, due to the presence of adjacent bonding, the electrostatic polarization across the structure is not uniform. As a result, it is difficult to alter and form bonds from these morphine-like alkaloids. However, in 1952, American chemist Marshall D. Gates, Jr. developed the first total synthesis of morphine[8]. As shown in Figure 7, Gates' thirty-one step synthesis is the earliest form of synthesizing morphine's. Gates' synthesis begins with the transformation of dihydroxynapthalene to cyanodiketone. This is followed by fusing the cyanodiketone with butadiene under high-pressure conditions in order to achieve a Deils-Alder reaction. The resulting ring system acts as the backbone for the compound. Then, the Gates' Intermediate is formed by coupling the hydroxyl and cyano group and forming an ethylamine bridge. In addition, the formation of Gates' Intermediate is essential in determining the stereochemistry of the compound, (±)-morphine. A series of reductive steps were followed after the formation of this intermediate to produce morphine[8]. …show more content…

However, it provided insight in the context of Diels-Alder reaction at that time[8] and confirmed the morphine structure proposed by organic chemist Robert Robinson[9]. As a result, many chemists eventually discovered an efficient way to produce morphine. The most prominent of which was developed by Kenner C. Rice which proceeded to make 30% of the product with 14 steps[10]. His method is based on the biomimetric route that follows the Grewe cyclization which corresponds to the morphine biosynthesis[10], as illustrated in Figure

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