Exactly 20 years ago AtlanChim Pharma was created…..

AtlanChim Pharma was founded 20 years ago, in May 2004! In one of our very first contracts, we had to synthesize various formyl derivatives of heterocyclic compounds from their corresponding methyl precursors. In some cases, due to the sensitivity of these starting materials to oxidizing agents, oxidation of the methyl group to formyl was not an option. To circumvent this problem, a free-radical bis-bromination of benzylic positions followed by aqueous treatment with sodium carbonate, as illustrated in Scheme below with an example from the literature [1], has proved to be a very effective sequence in our hands.

[1] S. Prabhu Haris, Y. Zhang, B. Le Bourdonnec, C. R. McCurdy, P. S. Portoghese, J. Med. Chem. 2007, 50, 3392-3396.