A practical large-scale chromatography-free synthesis of EP4 antagonist MF-310, a potential new treatment for chronic inflammation, is presented. The synthetic route provided MF-310 as its sodium salt in 10 steps and 17% overall yield from commercially available pyridine dicarboxylate 7. The key features of this sequence include a unique regioselective reduction of succinimide 2 controlled by the electronic properties of a remote pyridine ring, ...
