Aldonic acids hydrolysis

A quantitative interpretation of aldonolactone inhibition in terms of an adaptation of the active site to a transition state approaching a planar, glycosyl oxocarbonium ion is made difficult for several reasons. Due to the interconversion between the 1,4- and 1,5-lactones, and their hydrolysis to the aldonic acids, their use is limited to kinetic studies with incubation times of 10 min or less. This was not realized by most investigators prior to 1970. In many cases, only the 1,4-lactone can be isolated its (partial) conversion into... 

The bromodeoxyaldonolactones have been used for the preparation of aminodeoxy aldonic acids and aminodeoxy sugars via azido derivatives (45,46). Likewise, a- and /J-aminopolyhydroxy acids have been prepared by treatment of the bromodeoxyaldonolactones with liquid ammonia (47). Thus, 3-amino-3-deoxy-D-threonic acid and 3-amino-3-deoxy-D-arabin-onic acid (40b) were obtained from 2-bromo-2-deoxy-L-threono- or D-xy-lono-1,4-lactone (38). It was shown that 2,3-epoxy carboxamides (namely, 39) are intermediates of the reaction. Heating at 90° for long periods led to the 3-amino-3-deoxyaldonamides, which upon acid hydrolysis yielded the corresponding aldonic acids. 

Aldonamides are readily prepared by reaction of lactones with liquid ammonia (86,99,100), with ammonium hydroxide (101,102), or by bubbling ammonia gas into alcoholic solutions of the sugar lactones (103-104). Aldonamides of the tetronic adds are stable in aqueous solution (105), but penton- or hexon-amides are hydrolyzed, as shown by the change of the optical rotation of the amide solutions (106). The hydrolysis is catalyzed by acids and bases, and the product was the ammonium salt of the aldonic acid. 

Removal of the acetyl and nitrile groups by acid hydrolysis was also achieved by Wohl, who isolated a pentosazone from the products from heating pentaacetyl-D-glucononitrile with 2 N hydrochloric acid. Fischer also isolated what is now known to have been a 5-desoxy-L-arabinosazone from the products obtained by treatment of tetraacetyl-L-rhamnononitrile with 5% hydrochloric acid. At the same time partial transformation of the nitrile into the aldonic acid takes place as shown by Maquenne, who obtained D-xylonic acid by treating tetraacetyl-D-xylononitrile with concentrated hydrochloric acid. 

For a long time, this reaction was conducted exclusively with acety-lated nitriles of aldonic acids, and the products obtained were known in general as "aldose-amides. Fischer2 used this reaction to transform tetra-O-acetyl-L-rhamnononitrile into l,l-bis(acetamido)-l,5-dideoxy-L-arabinitol, whose subsequent hydrolysis and oxidation allowed him to determine the configuration of dextro-tartaric acid (L-threaric acid). 

The rates of hydrolysis of the lactones depend on the parent structure for instance, the 1,4-lactone of D-mannonic acid is more stable than that of D-gluconic acid, and the 1,4-lactones of 2-deoxyaldonic acids are more stable than the corresponding aldonolactones. The final attainment of equilibrium between free aldonic acids and their lactones is reached only after many days at room temperature it is, however, accelerated by the presence of strong acids and by heating. A detailed discussion of the formation and hydrolysis of aldonolactones is available in a review by Shafizadeh,59 and the conformations and stabilities of aldonolactones have been discussed by Lemieux.60 Detailed analyses of D-glucono-1,5-lactone and other lactones have been reported.61 13C NMR spectroscopy proved to be a convenient method for monitoring the equilibria.62... 

Derivatives of 2-deoxyglycuronic acids have been obtained by catalytic oxidation193 of suitably protected alcohols, and by hydroformylation194 of terminal epoxide groups in aldonic acids. 6-Deoxyhepturonic acids or derivatives thereof have been obtained by cyanide displacement of a 6-sulfonyloxy group from derivatives of hexoses and hydrolysis of the resulting nitriles.195... 

Scheme 12 Formation and hydrolysis of FDAM-labeled aldonic acids...

Cyanide ions react with aldehydes and ketones to yield cyanohydrins (Kiliani) (Fig. 2-28). Hydrolysis of the cyanohydrins gives aldonic acids, which can be reduced to aldoses. Kiliani reaction thus opens the possibility for chain lengthening of aldoses. Because of the formation, of a hydroxyl group in place of the aldehyde group a new asymmetric center is generated. It is to be observed, however, that the reaction is subject to so-called asymmetric induction, which means that the diastereoisomers are formed in unequal proportions. 

The use of sodium amalgam originates with E. Fischer. The method was a cornerstone of his aldose homologation (cyanohydrin formation, hydrolysis, lactone formation and reduction) which was so important to the development of carbohydrate chemistry. Although the yields obtained by Fischer were moderate ca. 20-50%), more recent work by Sperber et al. has resulted in significant improvements. In particular, they discovered that control of the pH of the reaction mixture was very important. At pH 3-3.5, yields in the range 52-82% were obtained with a variety of aldonolactones. As an example, the preparation of arabinose is shown in equation (4). If the pH was allowed to rise, yields were lower due to overreduction. Methyl esters of aldonic acids could also be used as substrates. 

First, let us look at a method for converting an aldose into another aldose containing one more carbon atom, that is, at a method for lengthening the carbon chain. In 1886, Heinrich Kiliani (at the Technische Hochschule in Munich) showed that an aldose can be converted into two aldonic acids of the next higher carbon number by addition of HCN and hydrolysis of the resulting cyanohydrins. In 1890, Fischer reported that reduction of an aldonic acid (in the form of its lactone. Sec. 20.15) can be controlled to yield the corresponding aldose. In Fig. 34.2, the entire Kiliani-Ffscher synthesis is illustrated for the conversion of an aldopentose into two aldohexoses. 

The first question concerns the nature and relative proportions of constituent monosaccharides. In principle, this is obtained by acidic hydrolysis (Biermann 1988) but, in practice, it must be carefully applied as there are a certain number of important specific cases. Hydrochloric, sulfuric, and trifluoroacetic acids are used whose 1 N solutions have a pH of 0.1, 0.3, and 0.7, respectively. When hydrolysis liberates monosaccharides fragile in an acidic medium, a delicate balance between the risk of incomplete hydrolysis and partial destruction of the hydrolysis product must be maintained. The fragile sugars are pentoses, deoxy sugars, and uronic and aldonic acids. When sialic acid is kept for 30 min at 90°C in 0.01 M HCl, 20% decomposition occurs. With neutral polysaccharides, decomposition can be limited to less than 9%. The acetyl groups of acetamides are hydrolysed and relatively stable protonated amino sugars are obtained. 

The lactone undergoes hydrolysis in solution to form the corresponding aldonic acid, that is, here, gluconic acid, as follows ... 

This method for the synthesis of higher-carbon ketoses is based on the reaction of diazomethane with an acid chloride to give a diazomethyl ketone which, on hydrolysis (or acetolysis), furnishes a hydroxy (or acetoxy) methyl ketone. The reaction was first applied in the sugar field in 1938 and has since been widely used in the synthesis of ketoses by Wolfrom and coworkers. As developed by Wolfrom, the synthesis uses fully acety-lated derivatives in the following stages aldose — acetylated aldonic acid acetylated aldonyl chloride acetylated diazomethyl ketose — acetylated ketose — ketose. The method is illustrated in the synthesis of D-galacto-heptulose (10). ... 

On oxidation (with hypoiodite) to the corresponding aldonic acid, of the disaccharide obtained by partial hydrolysis of chitin, and acetylation with sodium acetate in acetic anhydride, the product undergoes /3-elimination, to give the bionic acid derivative 2-acetamido-4-0-(2-acetamido-tri-0-acetyl-2-deoxy- -D-glucopyranosyl)-6-0-acetyl-2,3-dideoxy-D-erj/(firo-hex-2-enono-1,5-lactone (90). In the original work, the determination of the site... 

The carboxylic acids derived from sucrose may find some use in pharmaceutical and agricultural chemistry. The uronic and 2-keto-aldonic acids obtained by hydrolysis of these compounds represent a great industrial... 

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