A-amino acids, production

Because of the high potential of alkaloid-based alkylations for synthesis of amino acids, several groups focused on the further enantiomeric enrichment of the products [20]. In addition to product isolation issues, a specific goal of those contributions was improvement of enantioselectivity to ee values of at least 99% ee during downstream-processing (e.g. by crystallization). For pharmaceutical applications high enantioselectivity of >99% ee is required for optically active a-amino acid products. 

One example is the optically active amino acid derivative (S)-20n which contains a bipyridyl substituent (Scheme 3.14). The alkylation reaction in the presence of the cinchona alkaloid catalyst 33 proceeds with 53% ee (83% yield of (S)-20n) and gave the desired enantiomerically pure a-amino acid ester (S)-20n in >99% ee after re-crystallization [43]. Subsequent hydrolysis of the optically pure (S)-20n furnished the desired unprotected a-amino acid 35. A different purification method, subsequent enzymatic resolution, reported by Bowler et al., furnished the a-amino acid product 35 with enantioselectivity of 95% ee [44],... 

In the presence of the immobilized enzyme, the reaction can be carried out at a substrate concentration of up to 2 M, as has been demonstrated by Kyowa Hakko. In addition, an excellent conversion of >99% ee was obtained, accompanied by impressive enantioselectivities of >99.9% ee [32], Immobilized whole cells from Escherichia coli have been used by Tanabe Seiyaku for this reaction [34], It is worth noting that this reaction represents not only the first application of immobilized whole cells in industrial a-amino acid production, but also proved to be economically superior to fermentation methods (Fig. 14). A high yield of >95% has been obtained for L-aspartic acid, l-27, and the annual capacity is several hundred tons. 

The donor amino acid forms a Schiff base with pyridoxal phosphate within the enzyme s active site. After a proton is lost, a carbanion forms and is resonance-stabilized by interconversion to a quinonoid intermediate. After an enzyme-catalyzed proton transfer and a hydrolysis, the a-keto product is released. A second a-keto acid then enters the active site. This acceptor a-keto acid is converted to an a-amino acid product as the mechanism just described is reversed. 

The hydrogenations in Equations 15.31 and 15.32 illustrate the reduction of more complex substrates leading to a-amino acid amides. The first example demonstrates a diaste-reoselective hydrogenation conducted by the fine chemicals company Lonza as part of the synthesis of the vitamin biotin. " The second example shows an a-amino acid product produced in quantities greater than 200 tons by Lonza using a rhodium catalyst containing the Josiphos ligand shown. This product is an intermediate in the synthesis of Indinavir (Crixivan), which was used in combination with a reverse transcriptase inhibitor to create the first effective treatment for... 

In optically pure a-amino acid production from DL-5-monosubstituted hydantoins, the wide applicability to a broad substrate range is valuable especially for the production of D-a-amino acids [70] and unnatural L-a-amino acids (Fig. 9), e.g., D-p-hydroxyphen-ylglycine [71], D-phenylglycine [71], substituted L-phenyManine such as L-p-chlorophen-ylalanine [72] and p-trimethylsilylphenylalanine [73,74], L-a- and p-naphthylalanine [75], an A -methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist, (2R, 4R, 55)-2-amino-4,5-(l,2-cyclohexyl)-7-... 

Figure 8 Optically pure a-amino acid production processes by combinations of hydantoin-transforming enzymes.

Miscellaneous Reactions. Sodium bisulfite adds to acetaldehyde to form a white crystalline addition compound, insoluble in ethyl alcohol and ether. This bisulfite addition compound is frequendy used to isolate and purify acetaldehyde, which may be regenerated with dilute acid. Hydrocyanic acid adds to acetaldehyde in the presence of an alkaU catalyst to form cyanohydrin the cyanohydrin may also be prepared from sodium cyanide and the bisulfite addition compound. Acrylonittile [107-13-1] (qv) can be made from acetaldehyde and hydrocyanic acid by heating the cyanohydrin that is formed to 600—700°C (77). Alanine [302-72-7] can be prepared by the reaction of an ammonium salt and an alkaU metal cyanide with acetaldehyde this is a general method for the preparation of a-amino acids called the Strecker amino acids synthesis. Grignard reagents add readily to acetaldehyde, the final product being a secondary alcohol. Thioacetaldehyde [2765-04-0] is formed by reaction of acetaldehyde with hydrogen sulfide thioacetaldehyde polymerizes readily to the trimer. 

Synthetic utility of stereoselective alkylations in natural product chemistry is exemplified by the preparation of optically active 2-arylglycine esters (38). Chirally specific a-amino acids with methoxyaryl groups attached to the a-carbon were prepared by reaction of the dimethyl ether of a chiral bis-lactam derivative with methoxy arenes. Using SnCl as the Lewis acid, enantioselectivities ranging from 65 to 95% were obtained. 

Similarly, A[-carboxy-a-amino acid anhydrides react with aromatics such as toluene, xylenes, and mesitylene to give a-amino acylated products ia moderate yields with almost complete retention of configuration of the a-amino acid. 

Other Reactions. a-Nitroalkanoic acids or thek esters can be prepared (54—56) by treating nitroparaffins with magnesium methyl carbonate, or with triisopropylaluminum and carbon dioxide. These products are reduced readily to a-amino acids. 

The starting amino acid for nylon-11 is produced from methyl ricinoleate [141 -24-2] which is obtained from castor oil (qv). The methyl ricinoleate is pyrolized to methyl 10-undecylenate [25339-67-7] and heptanal [111-71-7]. The unsaturated ester is hydroly2ed and then converted to the amino acid by hydrobromination, followed by ammoniation and acidification. The CO-amino acid product is a soft paste containing water, which is dried in the first step of the polymeri2ation process. 

These two methods ate popular for a-amino acid synthesis, and used in the industrial production of some amino acids since taw materials are readily available. 

In many cases only the racemic mixtures of a-amino acids can be obtained through chemical synthesis. Therefore, optical resolution (42) is indispensable to get the optically active L- or D-forms in the production of expensive or uncommon amino acids. The optical resolution of amino acids can be done in two general ways physical or chemical methods which apply the stereospecific properties of amino acids, and biological or enzymatic methods which are based on the characteristic behavior of amino acids in living cells in the presence of enzymes. 

Refs. 21, 22, 155. Abbreviations AHV, a-amino-(3-hydroxyvaleric acid Horn, L-homoserine AEG, (3 -(2-aminoethyl)-L-cysteine ppc, phosphoenolpymvate carboxylase the strain improvement largely depends on the transduction technology sensitive resistant —, auxotroph or deficient , leaky auxotroph +, prototrophic revertant. Table 7. Amino Acid Production from Hydrocarbons ... 

An estimation of the amount of amino acid production and the production methods are shown ia Table 11. About 340,000 t/yr of L-glutamic acid, principally as its monosodium salt, are manufactured ia the world, about 85% ia the Asian area. The demand for DL-methionine and L-lysiae as feed supplements varies considerably depending on such factors as the soybean harvest ia the United States and the anchovy catch ia Pern. Because of the actions of D-amiao acid oxidase and i.-amino acid transamiaase ia the animal body (156), the D-form of methionine is as equally nutritive as the L-form, so that DL-methionine which is iaexpensively produced by chemical synthesis is primarily used as a feed supplement. In the United States the methionine hydroxy analogue is partially used ia place of methionine. The consumption of L-lysiae has iacreased ia recent years. The world consumption tripled from 35,000 t ia 1982 to 100,000 t ia 1987 (214). Current world consumption of L-tryptophan and i.-threonine are several tens to hundreds of tons. The demand for L-phenylalanine as the raw material for the synthesis of aspartame has been increasing markedly. 

In Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition. Amino acid transfusion has been widely used since early times to maintain basic nitrogen metaboHsm when proteinaceous food caimot be eaten. It was very difficult to prepare a pyrogen-free transfusion from protein hydrolysates. Since the advances in L-amino acid production, the crystalline L-amino acids have been used and the problem of pyrogen in transfusion has been solved. The formulation of amino acid transfusion has been extensively investigated, and a solution or mixture in which the ratio between essential and nonessential amino acid is 1 1, has been widespread clinically. Special amino acid mixtures (eg, branched chain amino acids-enriched solution) have been developed for the treatment of several diseases (93). 

Dioxopiperazines are amongst the most ubiquitous of natural products (75FOR(32)57) and they are formally derived by the cyclodimerization of a-amino acids (69CCC4000) or their esters. A number of methods are available for their oxidation to the corresponding pyrazines. Treatment of 2,5-dioxopiperazines with triethyl- or trimethyl-oxonium fluorobor-ate followed by oxidation with DDQ, chloranil or iodine results in pyrazine formation, usually in high yields (Scheme 63) (72JCS(P1)2494). 

Currently, a-amino acids are prepared by several routes such as by the fermentation of glucose, by enzyme action on several substances and by the hydrolysis of proteins. Many methods for synthesising the polymers are known, of which the polymerisation of A -carboxyanhydrides is of particular interest, as it yield-products of high molecular weight (Figure 18.24). 

Depending on the stereoselectivity of the reaction, either the or the 5 configuration can generated at C-2 in the product. This corresponds to enantioselective synthesis of the d md L enantiomers of a-amino acids. Hydrogenation using chiral catalysts has been carefully investigated. The most effective catalysts for the reaction are ihodiiun... 

Van Tamelen (I24a) has reported a useful and specific synthetic method for the production of enamines by the oxidative decarboxylation of N,N-dialkyl a-amino acids with sodium hypochlorite. 

The azlactones of a-benzoylaminocinnamic acids have traditionally been prepared by the action of hippuric acid (1, Ri = Ph) and acetic anhydride upon aromatic aldehydes, usually in the presence of sodium acetate. The formation of the oxazolone (2) in Erlenmeyer-Plochl synthesis is supported by good evidence. The method is a way to important intermediate products used in the synthesis of a-amino acids, peptides and related compounds. The aldol condensation reaction of azlactones (2) with carbonyl compounds is often followed by hydrolysis to provide unsaturated a-acylamino acid (4). Reduction yields the corresponding amino acid (6), while drastic hydrolysis gives the a-0X0 acid (5). ... 

Recently the Bohlmann-Rahtz synthesis has received greater attention. Baldwin has employed this method for the construction of heterocyclic substituted a-amino acids. Exposure of alkynyl ketone 39 to 3-aminocrotoyl ester 40 resulted in the Michael product 41. Thermolysis then gave rise to the desired pyridyl-P-alanines 42. 

A series of chiral boron catalysts prepared from, e.g., N-sulfonyl a-amino acids has also been developed and used in a variety of cycloaddition reactions [18]. Corey et al. have applied the chiral (S)-tryptophan-derived oxazaborolidine-boron catalyst 11 and used it for the conversion of, e.g., benzaldehyde la to the cycloaddition product 3a by reaction with Danishefsky s diene 2a [18h]. This reaction la affords mainly the Mukaiyama aldol product 10, which, after isolation, was converted to 3a by treatment with TFA (Scheme 4.11). It was observed that no cycloaddition product was produced in the initial step, providing evidence for the two-step process. 

The enantioselective inverse electron-demand 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions of nitrones with alkenes described so far were catalyzed by metal complexes that favor a monodentate coordination of the nitrone, such as boron and aluminum complexes. However, the glyoxylate-derived nitrone 36 favors a bidentate coordination to the catalyst. This nitrone is a very interesting substrate, since the products that are obtained from the reaction with alkenes are masked a-amino acids. One of the characteristics of nitrones such as 36, having an ester moiety in the a position, is the swift E/Z equilibrium at room temperature (Scheme 6.28). In the crystalline form nitrone 36 exists as the pure Z isomer, however, in solution nitrone 36 have been shown to exists as a mixture of the E and Z isomers. This equilibrium could however be shifted to the Z isomer in the presence of a Lewis acid [74]. 

Since most often the selective formation of just one stereoisomer is desired, it is of great importance to develop highly selective methods. For example the second step, the aldol reaction, can be carried out in the presence of a chiral auxiliary—e.g. a chiral base—to yield a product with high enantiomeric excess. This has been demonstrated for example for the reaction of 2-methylcyclopenta-1,3-dione with methyl vinyl ketone in the presence of a chiral amine or a-amino acid. By using either enantiomer of the amino acid proline—i.e. (S)-(-)-proline or (/ )-(+)-proline—as chiral auxiliary, either enantiomer of the annulation product 7a-methyl-5,6,7,7a-tetrahydroindan-l,5-dione could be obtained with high enantiomeric excess. a-Substituted ketones, e.g. 2-methylcyclohexanone 9, usually add with the higher substituted a-carbon to the Michael acceptor ... 

A more general method for preparation ofa-amino acids is the amidotnalmatesynthesis, a straightforward extension of the malonic ester synthesis (Section 22.7). The reaction begins with conversion of diethyl acetamidomalonate into an eno-late ion by treatment with base, followed by S 2 alkylation with a primary alkyl halide. Hydrolysis of both the amide protecting group and the esters occurs when the alkylated product is warmed with aqueous acid, and decarboxylation then takes place to vield an a-amino acid. For example aspartic acid can be prepared from, ethyl bromoacetate, BrCh CCHEt ... 

A further variant of Method B is the acylation of a 2-aminobenzophenone with a protected a-amino acid chloride, followed by conversion of the product 11 into the 2-(aminoacet-amido)benzophenone 12 by reaction with hydrobromic acid in acetic acid.196... 

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