Amide hydrolysis intermediate

Mechanistically amide hydrolysis is similar to the hydrolysis of other carboxylic acid derivatives The mechanism of the hydrolysis m acid is presented m Figure 20 7 It proceeds m two stages a tetrahedral intermediate is formed m the first stage and disso ciates m the second... 

FIGURE 20 7 The mecha nism of amide hydrolysis in acid solution Steps 1 through 3 show the for mation of the tetrahedral intermediate Dissociation of the tetrahedral inter mediate is shown in steps 4 through 6... 

Hydrolysis of esters and amides by enzymes that form acyl enzyme intermediates is similar in mechanism but different in rate-limiting steps. Whereas formation of the acyl enzyme intermediate is a rate-limiting step for amide hydrolysis, it is the deacylation step that determines the rate of ester hydrolysis. This difference allows elimination of the undesirable amidase activity that is responsible for secondary hydrolysis without affecting the rate of synthesis. Addition of an appropriate cosolvent such as acetonitrile, DMF, or dioxane can selectively eliminate undesirable amidase activity (128). 

Amide hydrolysis is common in biological chemistry. Just as the hydrolysis of esters is the initial step in the digestion of dietary fats, the hydrolysis of amides is the initial step in the digestion of dietary proteins. The reaction is catalyzed by protease enzymes and occurs by a mechanism almost identical to that we just saw for fat hydrolysis. That is, an initial nucleophilic acyl substitution of an alcohol group in the enzyme on an amide linkage in the protein gives an acyl enzyme intermediate that then undergoes hydrolysis. 

Tetrhedral intermediate, 172 Thermodynamic cycles, 186 Thermolysin, zinc as cofactor for, 204 Thrombin, 170 Torsional potential, 111 Transition states, 41-42,44, 45,46, 88, 90-92 in amide hydrolysis, 219-221 oxyanion hole and, 181 stabilization of, 181,181 carbonium ion, 154,155,156-161, 167-169 for gas-phase reactions, 43... 

For amide hydrolysis in base, the initial adduct would revert to starting materials (without remarkable stabilization, an amide ion is a hopeless leaving group, so that path b does not compete with path a), bnt a not very difflcnlt proton transfer gives an intermediate in which the amine is the better leaving gronp and path b can compete with path a. ... 

For amide hydrolysis in acid, proton transfer to give a cationic intermediate is easy, and breakdown to products is favored over reversion to starting material process b is hopelessly bad, but process b is better than a. 

Because direct glycosidation of 4 with phenols is not possible, indirect methods must be used for the preparation of aryl D-glucofuranosidurono-6,3-lactones (29). In addition, aryl 2,5-di-O-acetyl-D-glucofuranosidurono-6,3-lactones (30), obtained35-37 from the reaction of 1,2,5-tri-0-acetyl-D-glucofuranurono-6,3-lactones with phenols, can only be deacetylated by such multi-step procedures as (1) ammonolysis of 30 to afford aryl D-glucofuranosiduronamides (31), followed by amide hydrolysis and lactonization, 35,37 or (2) reduction of 30 with lithium aluminum hydride, and subsequent oxidation of the intermediate aryl D-glucofuranosides38 (32) (see Scheme 1). 

Amide hydrolysis at alkaline pH involves a tetrahedral anionic intermediate, which was mimicked by the transition state analogue [49], an /V-aryl arylphosphonamidate, appropriately related to substrate anilide [50] (Fig. 18) (Appendix entry 2.8). 

Before discussmg the mechanism of cleavage of carboxylic acid esters and amides by hydrolases, some chemical principles are worth recalling. The chemical hydrolysis of carboxylic acid derivatives can be catalyzed by acid or base, and, in both cases, the mechanisms involve addition-elimination via a tetrahedral intermediate. A general scheme of ester and amide hydrolysis is presented in Fig. 3. / the chemical mechanisms of ester hydrolysis will be... 

In ester hydrolysis, rate-limiting formation of the tetrahedral intermediate usually apphes (Sec. 6.3.1) since the alkoxide group is easily expelled. In contrast, amide hydrolysis at neutral pH involves rate-limiting breakdown of the tetrtihedral intermediate, because RNH is a poor leaving group. The catalytic effect of metal ions on amide hydrolysis has been ascribed to accelerated breakdown of the tetrahedral intermediate. 

A different type of stereoelectronic control has been found in the breakdown in solution of tetrahedral addition intermediates that arise in ester and amide hydrolysis and other reactions of carboxyl and carbonyl groups. In the case of an intermediate such as structure 8.47, in which there are two atoms with non-bonded electrons (generally O or N), the lowest-energy transition state for breakdown is a conformation in which nonbonded electrons of each are anti to the group being expelled (structures 8.48).50... 

As we have indicated in Section 23-12, amide hydrolysis can be an important route to amines. Hydrolysis under acidic conditions requires strong acids such as sulfuric or hydrochloric, and temperatures of about 100° for several hours. The mechanism involves protonation of the amide on oxygen followed by attack of water on the carbonyl carbon. The tetrahedral intermediate formed dissociates ultimately to the carboxylic acid and the ammonium salt ... 

It is convenient to discuss these reactions under the following headings ester hydrolysis, peptide (amide) hydrolysis and peptide bond formation but it should be remembered that similar intermediates occur in each case and the discussion overlaps the three sections. 

Characterization of HIV-1 protease as a member of the aspartic acid protease family provided the rationale for most of the efforts to design inhibitors (Kohl et al, 1988 Krausslich et al., 1988 Navia et al., 1989 Pearl and Taylor, 1987). Previous efforts to develop therapeutically useful inhibitors of the mechanistically related enzyme renin had demonstrated that potent inhibitors could be prepared by replacing the scissile amide bond of a substrate analogue with a nonhydrolyzable isostere to mimic the tetrahedral intermediate or transition state involved in amide hydrolysis (Greenlee, 1990). Although several dipeptide isosteres have been used to successfully generate highly potent HIV-1 protease inhibitors, a relatively small number have resulted in compounds that reached clinical development. 

Under acidic conditions, the mechanism of amide hydrolysis resembles the acid-catalyzed hydrolysis of an ester. Protonation of the carbonyl group activates it toward nucleophilic attack by water to give a tetrahedral intermediate. Protonation of the amino group enables it to leave as the amine. A fast exothermic proton transfer gives the acid and die protonated amine. 

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