Active esters racemization

With the dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCQ reagent racemization is more pronounced in polar solvents such as DMF than in CHjCl2, for example. An efficient method for reduction of racemization in coupling with DCC is to use additives such as N-hydroxysuccinimide or l-hydroxybenzotriazole. A possible explanation for this effect of nucleophilic additives is that they compete with the amino component for the acyl group to form active esters, which in turn reaa without racemization. There are some other condensation agents (e.g. 2-ethyl-7-hydroxybenz[d]isoxazolium and l-ethoxycarbonyl-2-ethoxy-l,2-dihydroquinoline) that have been found not to lead to significant racemization. They have, however, not been widely tested in peptide synthesis. 

Unprotected racemic amines can be resolved by enantioselective acylations with activated esters (110,111). This approach is based on the discovery that enantioselectivity of some enzymes strongly depends on the nature of the reaction medium. For example, the enantioselectivity factor (defined as the ratio of the initial rates for (3)- and (R)-isomers) of subtiHsin in the acylation of CX-methyl-ben zyl amine with tritiuoroethyl butyrate varies from 0.95 in toluene to 7.7 in 3-methyl-3-pentanol (110). The latter solvent has been used for enantioselective resolutions of a number of racemic amines (110). 

The evidence presented so far excludes the formation of dissociated ions as the principal precursor to sulfone, since such a mechanism would yield a mixture of two isomeric sulfones. Similarly, in the case of optically active ester a racemic product should be formed. The observed data are consistent with either an ion-pair mechanism or a more concerted cyclic intramolecular mechanism involving little change between the polarity of the ground state and transition state. Support for the second alternative was found from measurements of the substituent and solvent effects on the rate of reaction. 

Figure 4.15 DKR of activated esters using a base for racemization.

Most resolution is done on carboxylic acids and often, when a molecule does not contain a carboxyl group, it is converted to a carboxylic acid before resolution is attempted. However, the principle of conversion to diastereomers is not confined to carboxylic acids, and other groupsmay serve as handles to be coupled to an optically active reagent. Racemic bases can be converted to diastereomeric salts with active acids. Alcohols can be converted to diastereomeric esters, aldehydes to diastereomeric hydrazones, and so on. Even hydrocarbons can be converted to diastereomeric inclusion... 

Stereoinversion Stereoinversion can be achieved either using a chemoenzymatic approach or a purely biocatalytic method. As an example of the former case, deracemization of secondary alcohols via enzymatic hydrolysis of their acetates may be mentioned. Thus, after the first step, kinetic resolution of a racemate, the enantiomeric alcohol resulting from hydrolysis of the fast reacting enantiomer of the substrate is chemically transformed into an activated ester, for example, by mesylation. The mixture of both esters is then subjected to basic hydrolysis. Each hydrolysis proceeds with different stereochemistry - the acetate is hydrolyzed with retention of configuration due to the attack of the hydroxy anion on the carbonyl carbon, and the mesylate - with inversion as a result of the attack of the hydroxy anion on the stereogenic carbon atom. As a result, a single enantiomer of the secondary alcohol is obtained (Scheme 5.12) [8, 50a]. 

M Goodman, KC Stueben. Amino acid active esters. III. Base-catalyzed racemization of peptide active esters. J Org Chem 27, 3409, 1962. 

JE Zimmerman, GW Callahan. The effect of active ester components on racemization in the synthesis of peptides by the dicyclohexylcarbodiimide method. J Am Chem Soc 89, 7151, 1967. 

B Liberek. The nitrile group in peptide chemistry. V. Racemization during peptide synthesis. 4. Racemization of active esters of phthaloyl-P-cyano-L-alanine in the presence of trie thy lamine. Acad Pol Sci Ser Sci Chim 11, 677, 1963. 

J Kovac, GL Mayers, RH Johnson, RE Cover, UR Ghatak. Racemization of amino acid derivatives. Rate of racemization and peptide bond formation of cysteine active esters. J Org Chem 35, 1810, 1970. 

M Goodman, L Levine. Peptide synthesis via active esters. IV. Racemization and ring-opening reactions of optically active oxazolones. JAm Chem Soc 86, 2918, 1964. 

J Kovacs, R Cover, G Jham, Y Hsieh, T Kalas. Application of the additivity principle for prediction of rate constants in peptide chemistry. Further studies on the problem of racemization of peptide active esters, in R Walter, J Meienhofer, eds. Peptides Chemistry, Structure and Biology. Ann Arbor, MI, 1975, pp 317-324. 

NL Benoiton, YC Lee, FMF Chen. Racemization during aminolysis of activated esters of IV-alkoxycarbonylamino acids by amino acid anions in partially aqueous solvents and a tactic to minimize it. Int J Pept Prot Res 41, 512, 1993. 

J Kovacs. Racemization and coupling rates of N -protected amino acids and peptide active esters predictive potential, in The Peptides Analysis, Synthesis, Biology, Vol. 2, pp 485-539. Academic Press, New York, 1979. 

Thus, the anticholinergic activity of the alkaloid hyoscyamine is almost entirely confined to the (—)-isomer, and the (+)-isomer is almost devoid of activity. The racemic ( )-form, atropine, has approximately half the activity of the laevorotatory enantiomer. An anticholinergic drug blocks the action of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, and thus occupies the same binding site as acetylcholine. The major interaction with the receptor involves that part of the molecule that mimics acetylcholine, namely the appropriately positioned ester and amine groups. The chiral centre is adjacent to the ester, and also influences binding to the receptor. 

Although in recent years transesterification processes of racemic alcohols have received major attention, enzymatic acylation of amines for synthetic purposes is also being employed as a conventional tool for the synthesis of chiral amines and amides [31], using CALB as the biocatalyst in the majority of these reactions [31a]. The main difference between enzymatic acylation of alcohols and amines is the use of the corresponding acyl donor, because activated esters which are of utility... 

H. R. Gersmann (Koninklyke Shell Laboratories, Amsterdam, Netherlands) The results obtained by Russell correlate with those obtained by Gersmann and Niewenhuis (Organic Reaction Symposium, Cork, 1964) in the study of autoxidation of esters and ketones. Here weakly acidic esters also showed rates of ionization equal to the rate of oxidation as shown by the equality of the rate of racemization of an optically active ester to the rate of oxidation. 

In this section, dynamic kinetic resolution of substrates having a proton with low pKa is discussed. Racemization occurs by performing the DKR in the presence of a weak base. Enzyme- and base-catalyzed DKRs are categorized, according to the nature of the substrates, as being thioesters, -activated esters, oxazolones, hydan-toins or acyloins. 

Racemization of (S)-l-phenylethanol in the presence of an Ru p-cymerie binu-clear complex and triethylamine was much faster in [BMIm][BF4] or [BMIm][PF,s] than in toluene [136]. A range of chiral alcohols (Figure 10.17) were resolved in the presence of this complex and immobilized PsL. The reactions were performed in [BM Im][PF6] with the activated ester 2,2,2-trifluoroethyl acetate as the acyl donor (Figure 10.17). A hydrogen donor was required to prevent the formation of partially oxidized byproducts. Enantiomerically pure acetates were isolated in high yield (>85%). 

The Z-protected derivative, again prepared by standard methods using benzyl chloroformate,t208 may serve in the case of racemic pipecolic acid for resolution into the pure enantiomers by fractional crystallization with L-tyrosine hydrazide/208 Acylation with N-protected pipecolic acid or of pipecolyl peptides is performed by standard procedures via the active ester methods, e.g. A-hydroxysuccinimide ester/121 by the mixed anhydride method, e.g. with isobutyl chloro-formate 95-114 or pivalic acid chloride/121 as well as by DCC/HOBt/118 In the synthesis on solid support, longer coupling times are required when compared to N-protected proline.1[235 ... 

In this procedure the acylating molecule is the active ester formed between the amino acyl moiety and the hydroxy group of HOAt. 40 Compared to the earlier methods utilizing HOSu 41 and HOBt, 42 HOAt maintains the known ability to suppress racemization, but is much more effective in catalyzing peptide-bond formation. This efficiency of HOAt may be attributed to the possible assistance of both N2 and N7 to the amine nucleophilic attack (Scheme 2). If the preferred active ester conformation found in the crystalline state (the heterocyclic At plane lies approximately perpendicular to that of the carboxylic ester moiety)143 is preserved in solution, then assistance to nucleophilic attack on both faces of the ester is likely. 

Less reactive than acyl halides, but still suitable for difficult couplings, are symmetric or mixed anhydrides (e.g. with pivalic or 2,6-dichlorobenzoic acid) and HOAt-derived active esters. HOBt esters smoothly acylate primary or secondary aliphatic amines, including amino acid esters or amides, without concomitant esterification of alcohols or phenols [34], HOBt esters are the most commonly used type of activated esters in automated solid-phase peptide synthesis. For reasons not yet fully understood, acylations with HOBt esters or halophenyl esters can be effectively catalyzed by HOBt and HOAt [3], and mixtures of BOP (in situ formation of HOBt esters) and HOBt are among the most efficient coupling agents for solid-phase peptide synthesis [2]. In acylations with activated amino acid derivatives, the addition of HOBt or HOAt also retards racemization [4,12,35]. 

Unprotected racemic amines can be resolved by enantioselectbe acylations with activated esters. This approach is based on the discovery that enanlioselectivity of some enzymes strongly depends on the nature of the reaction medium. 

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