Acylation definition

When a Br nsted base functions catalytically by sharing an electron pair with a proton, it is acting as a general base catalyst, but when it shares the electron with an atom other than the proton it is (by definition) acting as a nucleophile. This other atom (electrophilic site) is usually carbon, but in organic chemistry it might also be, for example, phosphorus or silicon, whereas in inorganic chemistry it could be the central metal ion in a coordination complex. Here we consider nucleophilic reactions at unsaturated carbon, primarily at carbonyl carbon. Nucleophilic reactions of carboxylic acid derivatives have been well studied. These acyl transfer reactions can be represented by... 

The only definite examples are the acyl transfer reactions of acylcorrinoids, discovered by Bernhauer and Irion 14), and later studied in more detail by Yamada et al. 180). These reactions can be written... 

Carbamoyl radicals, like acyl radicals, show a net nucleophilic character which permits the amidation of protonated heteroaromatic bases. Quantitative studies concerning the polar character of the carbamoyl radicals have not yet been published, but the complete selectivity of attack at the a- and /-positions of protonated heteroaromatic bases indicates a definite nucleophilic character and synthetic value. 

When H2O deacetylates the acyl-enzyme, phenylacetic acid is formed. When nucleophiles other than H2O deacylate the acyl-enzyme, a new condensation product, in this case phenylacetyl-O-R or phenylacetyl-NH-R is formed. By definition the hydrolysis of these condensation products can be catalyzed by the same enzyme that catalyzes their formation in equation 10.1. Thus, when the acyl-enzyme is formed from phenylacetyl-glycine or phenylacetyl-O-Me, this gives rise to an alternative process to produce Penicillin G, in addition to the thermodynamically controlled (= equilibrium controlled) condensation of phenylacetic acid and 6-aminopenicillanic acid (6-APA). This reaction that involves an activated side chain is a kinetically controlled (= rate controlled) process where the hydrolase acts as a transferase (Kasche, 1986 1989). 

The fate of the free acyl radical 68 and radical 74 is not known. Most probably it is a constituent of polymer deposits on the wall of the irradiation vessel which hitherto have not been identified more definitely.29 Moreover, the identification of methane and carbon monoxide among the gaseous products of the photolysis of 4-methylphenyl acetate (55) provides evidence for the existence of the acetyl fragment. This intermediate is expected to decarbonylate to give carbon monoxide and a methyl radical, which in turn abstracts hydrogen from the solvent.34... 

Here, the term no-solvent means the absence of a traditional solvent—the reactants are neat and may well be sohds. Where one reactant is in sufficiently large excess to qualify as a solvent, for example in Friedel-Crafts alkylations or acylations with excess benzene or toluene, the reactions are not normally classified as no-sol-vent. The phrase solid-phase (solid-state) reaction today often describes a reaction carried out on a solid phase, like a resin, to which the reaction intermediates are bound by adding reagents in solution. These reactions have become very important in combinatorial chemistry, but they do not meet the definition of no-solvent. The nosolvent reactions refer only to the primary reactions themselves and not to workup conditions which may or may not involve solvents (Dittmer, 1997). 

Measurements of dipole moments, Kerr constants, and dielectric absorption have been employed (81RCR336) widely to obtain information on the conformational equilibrium in acyl heterocycles. Details on conformer structures and populations depend on the choice of additive scheme, group moments, or polarizability tensor in the case of Kerr constants. Several early conclusions, especially for furan- and thiophene-2-carboxaldehyde, appeared contradictory, owing to the choice of these quantities. A more precise definition of polarizability tensors for several heterocycles and a choice of group moments and additive schemes tested on a large amount of available experimental results and supported by accurate theoretical calculations have led to more confidence in the use of experimental dipole moments and Kerr constants in conformational analysis. A limitation of the method is that the... 

We may thus remark that the conformational results for aziridine acyl derivatives retain the undoubtedly positive aspect of evidencing the ensemble of effects causing the internal mobility of these molecules nevertheless more efforts seem necessary to achieve more precise definition of the conformer... 

Several other points perhaps need better definition and several questions await answers. We hope that many of them will emerge from the arguments gathered in the previous sections. Nevertheless, in view of the conclusions so far reached and of the new problems arising out of these results, we feel that all the experimental responses and the attempts to interpret them in the study of conformational properties of organic molecules in general, and of acyl heterocycles in particular, represent a powerful test for the models of electronic structure of molecules and for the behavior they exhibit under different conditions. 

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