process of making clopidogrel bisulfate (Plavix)?

Question

I have a chemistry big project for my quarter grade.. the question is how the process of making clopidogrel sulfate or the brand name is Plavix.. please tell me or give me website that I can search for it.. I tried looking at google.com but I couldnt find it.. thank you..

Answer 1

I'm not sure if you can actually find the steps of synthesis, but here's the wikipedia article with the structure on it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clopidogrel

And if you're doing this for advanced organic chemistry or something like that, then you probably can come up with a reasonable sequence of reactions to attain that product. It's been too long since I've taken any chemistry courses, so I can't help you with that. Good luck!

Answer 2

I don't know what terms you used to search in Google, but try "clopidogrel synthesis" or "clopidogrel bisulfate synthesis". Since Plavix is under patent, there is probably not much detailed information on the internet due to pharmaceutical companies' need to protect trade secrets. A Google Book Search indicates the title "Contemporary Drug Synthesis" by Jie Jack Li has several references to clopidogrel, so you could try to find this book in the library. Further investigation into this book on the publisher's site indicates that it contains detailed information on the synthesis of Plavix. I linked the publisher's page below:

http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0471214809,descCd-description.html

Another resource is the US Patent Office which has several listings for different enantiomers of clopidogrel hydrogen sulfate (another term for "bisulfate"). Just go to this page and do a quick search for "clopidogrel" in the abstract field:

http://www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html

Good luck with your project!