5α-Androst-1-ene-3,17-dione ( 5) as a prodrug of 1-testosterone ( 4) was prepared in four steps from 17β-Acetoxy-5α-androstan-3-one (stanolone acetate) ( 1) in high yield. Thus, stanolone acetate ( 1) was brominated in the presence of hydrogen chloride in acetic acid to give 17β-acetoxy-2-bromo-5α-androstan-3-one ( 2), which underwent dehydrobromination using lithium carbonate as base with lithium bromide as an additive to give 17β-acetoxy-5α-androst-1-en-3-one ( 3) in almost quantitative yield with 97% of purity. Compound ( 3) was hydrolyzed with sodium hydroxide to give 17β-hydroxy-5α-androst-1-en-3-one (4,1-testosterone), which was oxidized with chromium trioxide to afford 5α-androst-1-ene-3,17-dione ( 5). The overall yield of 5 was 78.2% with purity of 99%. In this method, the formation of 4-ene was diminished when 1-ene was introduced, and its mechanism was also discussed.
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