Patent ID: 8779163

Claim:
A method of preparing a sphingosine-like compound represented by the following structural formula: said method comprising the stop of reacting a cyclic starting material with HNR 2 R 3 ,said starting material represented by the following structural formula: thereby forming an intermediate represented by the following structural formula: and hydrolyzing the amino acetal group of the intermediate, thereby forming an acyclic compound represented by the following structural formula: reacting the acyclic compound with an amide reducing agent, thereby forming an amine compound represented by the following structural formula: debenzylating the —NHCH(—CH 2 OH)R 5 group of the amine compound, thereby forming a sphingosine-like compound represented by the following structural formula: wherein: R 1 is a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic group; R 2 and R 3 are independently —H, a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic group or, taken together with the nitrogen atom to which they art bonded, are a substituted or unsubstituted non-aromatic heterocyclie ring; and R 5 is a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic group.