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For the development of novel endocannabinoid templates with potential resistance to hydrolytic and oxidative metabolism, we are targeting the bis-allylic carbons of the arachidonoyl skeleton. Toward this end, we recently disclosed the synthesis and preliminary biological data for the (13S)-methyl-anandamide. We report now the total synthesis of the (10S)- and (10R)-methyl-counterparts. Our synthetic approach is stereospecific, efficient, and provides the analogs without the need for resolution. Peptide coupling, P-2 nickel partial hydrogenation, and cis-selective Wittig olefination are the key steps.

The availability of tetrahydrocannabinols (Δ9-THC), tetrahydrocannabivarins (Δ9-THCV), and their metabolites in both their undeuterated and deuterated forms is critical for the analysis of biological and toxicological samples. We report here a concise methodology for the syntheses of (−)-Δ9-THC and (−)-Δ9-THCV metabolites in significantly improved overall yields using commercially available starting materials. Our approach allowed us to obtain the key intermediates (6aR,10aR)-9-nor-9-oxo-hexahydrocannabinols in four steps from (+)-(1R)-nopinone. This was followed by an optimized Shapiro reaction to give the (−)-11-nor-9-carboxy-metabolites, which were converted to their respective (−)-11-hydroxy analogs. The synthetic sequence involves a minimum number of steps, avoids undesirable oxidative conditions, and incorporates the costly deuterated resorcinols near the end of the synthetic sequence. This methodology enabled us to synthesize eight regiospecifically deuterated (−)-Δ9-THC and (−)-Δ9-THCV metabolites in a preparative scale and high optical purity without deuterium scrambling or loss.

For the development of novel endocannabinoid templates with potential resistance to hydrolytic and oxidative metabolism, we are targeting the bis-allylic carbons of the arachidonoyl skeleton. Toward this end, we recently disclosed the synthesis and preliminary biological data for the (13S)-methyl-anandamide. We report now the total synthesis of the (10S)- and (10R)-methyl-counterparts. Our synthetic approach is stereospecific, efficient, and provides the analogs without the need for resolution. Peptide coupling, P-2 nickel partial hydrogenation, and cis-selective Wittig olefination are the key steps.