Amide racemic amino acids

This procedure is restricted mainly to aminodicarboxyhc acids or diaminocarboxyhc acids. In the case of neutral amino acids, the amino group or carboxyl group must be protected, eg, by A/-acylation, esterification, or amidation. This protection of the racemic amino acid and deprotection of the separated enantiomers add stages to the overall process. Furthermore, this procedure requires a stoichiometric quantity of the resolving agent, which is then difficult to recover efficiendy. Practical examples of resolution by this method have been pubUshed (50,51). 

Asano et al. have developed an approach for the synthesis of D-amino acids through DKR using a two-enzyme system [55]. They had previously reported the discovery of new D-stereospecific hydrolases that can be applied to KR of racemic amino acid amides to yield D-amino acids. Combination of a D-stereospedfic hydrolase with an amino acid amide racemase allows performing DKR of i-amino acid amides yielding enantiomerically pure D-amino acids in excellent yields (Figure 4.29). 

In a different approach, fluorescence-based DNA microarrays are utilized (88). In a model study, chiral amino acids were used. Mixtures of a racemic amino acid are first subjected to acylation at the amino function with formation of A-Boc protected derivatives. The samples are then covalently attached to amine-functionalized glass slides in a spatially arrayed manner (Fig. 10). In a second step, the uncoupled surface amino functions are acylated exhaustively. The third step involves complete deprotection to afford the free amino function of the amino acid. Finally, in a fourth step, two pseudo-Qn nX. om.Qx c fluorescent probes are attached to the free amino groups on the surface of the array. An appreciable degree of kinetic resolution in the process of amide coupling is a requirement for the success of the ee assay (Horeau s principle). In the present case, the ee values are accessible by measuring the ratio of the relevant fluorescent intensities. About 8000 ee determinations are possible per day, precision amounting to +10% of the actual value ((S(S). Although it was not explicitly demonstrated that this ee assay can be used to evaluate enzymes (e.g., proteases), this should in fact be possible. So far this approach has not been extended to other types of substrates. 

Figure 7 Preparation of chiral synthon for (3-3-receptor agonist (A) enzymatic resolution of racemic amino acid amide (8) by amidase from M. neoaurum ATCC 25795 (B) enzymatic resolution of racemic amino acid amide (10) by amidase from M. neoaurum ATCC 25795 (C) enzymatic asymmetric hydrolysis of diester (12) to the corresponding (>S)-monoester (13) by pig liver esterase.

A drawback of all of these methods is that they produce racemic amino acids. If the product is to be used in place of a natural amino acid, it must first be resolved. This can be accomplished by the traditional method of preparing and separating diastereomeric salts. Alternatively, nature s help can be enlisted through the use of enzymes. In one method the racemic amino acid is converted to its amide by reaction with acetic anhydride. The racemic amide is then treated with a deacylase enzyme. This enzyme catalyzes the hydrolysis of the amide back to the amino acid. However, the enzyme reacts only with the amide of the naturally occurring L-amino acid. The L-amino acid is easily separated from the unhydrolyzed D-amide. The following equation illustrates the use of this process to resolve methionine ... 

Finally, libraries aimed to chiral resolution of racemates will be covered here in particular, the use of chiral stationary phases (CSPs) has recently been reported for the identification of materials to be used for chiral separation of racemates by HPLC. The group of Frechet reported the selection of two macroporous poly methacrylate-supported 4-aryl-1,4-dihydropyrimidines (DHPs) as CSPs for the separation of amino acid, anti-inflammatory drugs, and DHP racemates from an 140-member discrete DHP library (214,215) as well as a deconvolutive approach for the identification of the best selector phase from a 36-member pool library of macroporous polymethacrylate-grafted amino acid anilides (216,217). Welch and co-workers (218,219) reported the selection of the best CSP for the separation of a racemic amino acid amide from a 50-member discrete dipeptide iV-3,5-dinitrobenzoyl amide hbrary and the follow-up, focused 71-member library (220). Wang and Li (221) reported the synthesis and the Circular Dichroism- (CD) based screening of a 16-member library of CSPs for the HPLC resolution of a leucine ester. Welch et al. recentiy reviewed the field of combinatorial libraries for the discovery of novel CSPs (222). Dyer et al. (223) reported an automated synthetic and screening procedure based on Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) for the selection of chiral diastereomeric salts to resolve racemic mixtures by crystallization. Clark Still rejxrrted another example which is discussed in detail in Section 9.5.4. 

Monosubshtuted hydantoins are a-amino acids cyclically protected at both the carboxyl- and the a-amino group. They can be easily prepared from an aldehyde and isocyanate or by the Bucherer-Bergs synthesis and similar methods. Indeed, the hydantoin synthesis is also a prachcal method for the preparahon of the racemic amino acid. Enzymes belonging to the dihydro-pyrimidinase family hydrolyze hydantoins to the carbamoyl amino acid. The latter can be hydrolyzed in turn to the amino acid by a second enzyme, a carbamoylase. Both enzymes can discriminate between enantiomers and, if their action is cooperative, either the L- or the D-amino acid can be obtained (Scheme 13.10) [36]. What makes the system of special interest is that the proton in the 5-position of the hydantoin ring (it will become the a-hydrogen in the a-amino acid) is considerably more acidic than conventional protons in amino acid esters or amides and much more acidic than the amino acid itself. Thus, the hydantoin can be often racemized in situ at slightly basic pH where the enzymes are stiU stable and active. If these condihons are met. 

The starting material for the acylase process is a racemic mixture of N-acetyl-amino acids 20 which are chemically synthesized by acetylation of D, L-amino acids with acetyl chloride or acetic anhydride in alkaU via the Schotten-Baumann reaction. The kinetic resolution of N-acetyl-D, L-amino acids is achieved by a specific L-acylase from Aspergillus oryzae, which only hydrolyzes the L-enantiomer and produces a mixture of the corresponding L-amino acid, acetate, and N-acetyl-D-amino acid. After separation of the L-amino acid by a crystallization step, the remaining N-acetyl-D-amino acid is recycled by thermal racemization under drastic conditions (Scheme 13.18) [47]. In a similar process racemic amino acid amides are resolved with an L-spedfic amidase and the remaining enantiomer is racemized separately. Although the final yields of the L-form are beyond 50% of the starting material in these multistep processes, the effidency of the whole transformation is much lower than a DKR process with in situ racemization. On the other hand, the structural requirements for the free carboxylate do not allow the identification of derivatives racemizable in situ therefore, the racemization requires... 

DSM has developed a widely applicable industrial process for production of en-antiomerically pure amino acids by enantioselective hydrolysis of racemic amino acid amides. These precursor compounds can easily be obtained by alkaline... 

The manufacture of optically active L-a-amino acids from racemic amino acid amides was shown by Mitsubishi Gas Chemical, Japan [117]. In this process different microorganisms were immobilized on polymers made from (meth)acrylic acid esters or urethane acrylates and applied for the stereoselective hydrolysis of racemic amides (Scheme 43). o/L-Leucinamide (rac-136), for example, can be hydrolyzed with Mycoplana bullata cells immobilized on polyethylene glycol dimethacrylate-AT,N -methylenebisacrylamide copolymer at 30 C to produce i-leudne (l-137) over 3,000 h. 

DSM has developed an industrial process for the preparation of (D)- and (L)-amino acids, which is based on the enantioselective hydrolysis of racemic amino acid amides using amidases, for example from Pseudomonasputida. It is often not necessary to isolate the pure enzyme standardised whole-cell or crude enzyme preparations can be used instead. It is noteworthy that in some cases the enzyme activity can be increased up to ten-fold by the addition of magnesium salts. The enzymes accommodate a broad spectrmn of substrates with considerable selectivity. Typical products are (L)-phenylalanine and (L)-homophenyl-alanine. 

Amidases are also applied for the chiral resolution of racemic amino acid amides to allow the biocatalytic synthesis of nonnatural i.-amino acids, which are important building blocks for pharmaceuticals. An amidase (EC 3.5.1.4) from Pseudomonas putida has been developed for the kinetic resolution of a wide range of amino acid amides (Schmid et al. 2001). 

In the mid-1970s an enzymatic process for the production of enantiopure a-hydrogen containing L- or D-amino acids (and their amides) has been developed at DSM using whole cells of Pseudomonas putida ATCC 12633. The process is based on the kinetic resolution of racemic amino acid amides and has been commercialized since 1988 for the production of several L- and D-amino acids [1,17b]. The scope and limitations of this process will be discussed, together with enzyme purification, characterization, and the overexpression of the gene coding for the enzyme in an E. coU K-12 strain. 

The kinetic resolution of racemic amino acid amides is performed with permeabilized whole cells of P. putida ATCC 12633 with a nearly 100% stereoselectivity for hydrolysis of the L-amide (enantiomeric ratio E > 200 [20]). Thus, both the L-acid and the D-amide can be obtained in nearly 100% e.e. at 50% conversion. The biocatalyst accepts a broad structural variety of amino acid amides, from alanine amide to, for example, p-naphthyl-glycine amide or lupinic acid amide (Scheme 4). So far more than 100 different amino acid amides have been successfully resolved. 

Another route to the racemic amino acid amides is also depicted in Scheme 6, i.e., phase transfer-catalyzed alkylation of the benzaldehyde Schiff bases of amino acid amides (16) gives access to the desired substrates [46]. Especially alkylation with activated alkyl bromides like allylic or benzylic bromides results in high yields of the disubstituted amino acid amides. 

Enzymatic Method. L-Amino acids can be produced by the enzymatic hydrolysis of chemically synthesized DL-amino acids or derivatives such as esters, hydantoins, carbamates, amides, and acylates (24). The enzyme which hydrolyzes the L-isomer specifically has been found in microbial sources. The resulting L-amino acid is isolated through routine chemical or physical processes. The D-isomer which remains unchanged is racemized chemically or enzymatically and the process is recycled. Conversely, enzymes which act specifically on D-isomers have been found. Thus various D-amino acids have been... 

The original procedure for the trifluoroacetylation of amino acids used trifluoroacetic anhydride [Acetic acid, trifluoro-, anhydride].4 This reagent, although inexpensive and readily available, has certain disadvantages it is a highly reactive compound and thus has caused undesired reactions such as the cleavage of amide or peptide bonds,5 unsymmetrical anhydrides are formed between the newly formed A-trifluoroacetylamino acids and the by-product trifluoroacetic acid, and excess trifluoroacetic anhydride has caused racemization of asymmetric centers. 

Photodriven reactions of Fischer carbenes with alcohols produces esters, the expected product from nucleophilic addition to ketenes. Hydroxycarbene complexes, generated in situ by protonation of the corresponding ate complex, produced a-hydroxyesters in modest yield (Table 15) [103]. Ketals,presumably formed by thermal decomposition of the carbenes, were major by-products. The discovery that amides were readily converted to aminocarbene complexes [104] resulted in an efficient approach to a-amino acids by photodriven reaction of these aminocarbenes with alcohols (Table 16) [105,106]. a-Alkylation of the (methyl)(dibenzylamino)carbene complex followed by photolysis produced a range of racemic alanine derivatives (Eq. 26). With chiral oxazolidine carbene complexes optically active amino acid derivatives were available (Eq. 27). Since both enantiomers of the optically active chromium aminocarbene are equally available, both the natural S and unnatural R amino acid derivatives are equally... 

The main application of the enzymatic hydrolysis of the amide bond is the en-antioselective synthesis of amino acids [4,97]. Acylases (EC 3.5.1.n) catalyze the hydrolysis of the N-acyl groups of a broad range of amino acid derivatives. They accept several acyl groups (acetyl, chloroacetyl, formyl, and carbamoyl) but they require a free a-carboxyl group. In general, acylases are selective for i-amino acids, but d-selective acylase have been reported. The kinetic resolution of amino acids by acylase-catalyzed hydrolysis is a well-established process [4]. The in situ racemization of the substrate in the presence of a racemase converts the process into a DKR. Alternatively, the remaining enantiomer of the N-acyl amino acid can be isolated and racemized via the formation of an oxazolone, as shown in Figure 6.34. 

Racemic a-amino amides and a-hydroxy amides have been hydrolyzed enantio-selectively by amidases. Both L-selective and o-selective amidases are known. For example, a purified L-selective amidase from Ochrobactrum anthropi combines a very broad substrate specificity with a high enantioselectivity on a-hydrogen and a,a-disubstituted a-amino acid amides, a-hydroxyacid amides, and a-N-hydroxya-mino acid amides [102]. A racemase (a-amino-e-caprolactam racemase, EC 5.1.1.15) converts the o-aminopeptidase-catalyzed hydrolysis of a-amino acid amides into a DKR (Figure 6.38) [103]. 

Kanegafuchi Chemical Industries produce D-p-hydroxyphenyl glycine, which is a key raw material for the semisynthetic penicillins ampicillin and amoxycillin. Here, an enantioselective hydantoinase is applied to convert the hydantoin to the D-p-hydroxyphenyl glycine. The quantitative conversion of the amide hydrolysis is achieved because of the in situ racemization of the unreacted hydantoins. Under the conditions of enzymatic hydrolysis, the starting material readily racemizes. Therefore, this process enables the stereospecific preparation of various amino acids at a conversion of 100% [38]. 

The unsaturated amides (RCH=CHCONH2, where R = aryl or heteroaryl) in the presence of sodium acetate and NBS gave 3-bromoazetidin-2-ones 67 in moderate yield, probably by cyclization of 68 <99JCS(P1)2435>. The mesylate 69 cyclized in the presence of base to 70 and, after deprotection, the racemic P-lactam was subjected to lipase-mediated resolution to yield 71 (R = Et, ee 99%) and the amino acid 72 (R = Et, ee 98%) . 

A useful approach for the preparation of chiral (3-aminophospho-nic acids from the naturally occurring a-amino acids has been reported.139 The overall scheme (Equation 3.4) involves formation of the phthalimide-acid halide from the starting a-amino acid followed by a Michaelis-Arbuzov reaction with triethyl phosphite to give the acylphosphonate. Complete reduction of the carbonyl group in three steps followed by hydrolysis of the ester and amide linkages provides the target material in very high yield without racemization (>99% ee). 

C Somlai, G Szokan, L Balaspiri. Efficient, racemization-free amidation of protected amino acids. Synthesis 285, 1992. 

The amidocarbonylation of aldehydes provides highly efficient access to N-acyl a-amino acid derivatives by the reaction of the ubiquitous and cheap starting materials aldehyde, amide, and carbon monoxide under transition metal-catalysis [1,2]. Wakamatsu serendipitously discovered this reaction when observing the formation of amino acid derivatives as by-products in the cobalt-catalyzed oxo reaction of acrylonitrile [3-5]. The reaction was further elaborated to an efficient cobalt- or palladium-catalyzed one-step synthesis of racemic N-acyl a-amino acids [6-8] (Scheme 1). Besides the range of direct applications, such as pharmaceuticals and detergents, racemic N-acetyl a-amino acids are important intermediates in the synthesis of enantiomeri-cally pure a-amino acids via enzymatic hydrolysis [9]. 

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