Carboxylic acid amide conversion

Reactivity of various carboxyl derivatives decreases in the order, acid chlorides > (aldehydes, ketones) > anhydrides > esters > carboxylic acids > amides. Carboxylic acids are reduced to alcohols under vigorous conditions. High P (35 X 10 to 70 X 10 kPa) and elevated T (up to 230°C) are required to effect conversion in high yields. 

The conversion of carboxylic acid derivatives (halides, esters and lactones, tertiary amides and lactams, nitriles) into aldehydes can be achieved with bulky aluminum hydrides (e.g. DIBAL = diisobutylaluminum hydride, lithium trialkoxyalanates). Simple addition of three equivalents of an alcohol to LiAlH, in THF solution produces those deactivated and selective reagents, e.g. lithium triisopropoxyalanate, LiAlH(OPr )j (J. Malek, 1972). 

Conversions of acid anhydrides to other carboxylic acid derivatives are illustrated m Table 20 2 Because a more highly stabilized carbonyl group must result m order for nucleophilic acyl substitution to be effective acid anhydrides are readily converted to carboxylic acids esters and amides but not to acyl chlorides... 

In base the tetrahedral intermediate is formed m a manner analogous to that pro posed for ester saponification Steps 1 and 2 m Figure 20 8 show the formation of the tetrahedral intermediate m the basic hydrolysis of amides In step 3 the basic ammo group of the tetrahedral intermediate abstracts a proton from water and m step 4 the derived ammonium ion dissociates Conversion of the carboxylic acid to its corresponding carboxylate anion m step 5 completes the process and renders the overall reaction irreversible... 

FIGURE 20.1 Structure, reactivity, and carbonyl-group stabilization in carboxylic acid derivatives. Acyl chlorides are the most reactive, amides the least reactive. Acyl chlorides have the least stabilized carbonyl group, amides the most. Conversion of one class of compounds to another is feasible only in the direction that leads to a more stabilized carbonyl group that is, from more reactive to less reactive. 

The reaction of carboxylic acids, aldehydes or ketones with hydrazoic acid in the presence of a strong acid is known as the Schmidt reaction A common application is the conversion of a carboxylic acid 1 into an amine 2 with concomitant chain degradation by one carbon atom. The reaction of hydrazoic acid with a ketone 3 does not lead to chain degradation, but rather to formation of an amide 4 by formal insertion of an NH-group. 

Conversion of the carboxylic acid to the diethyl amide interestingly leads to an agent that exhibits the properties of a respiratory stimulant. One synthesis of this agent starts with the preparation of the mixed anhydride of nicotinic and benzene-sulfonic acid (4). An exchange reaction between the anhydride and diethyl benzenesulfonamide affords nikethemide (5). ... 

Conversion of Amides into Carboxylic Acids Hydrolysis Amides undergo hydrolysis to yield carboxylic acids plus ammonia or an amine on heating in either aqueous acid or aqueous base. The conditions required for amide hydrolysis are more severe than those required for the hydrolysis of add chlorides or esters but the mechanisms are similar. Acidic hydrolysis reaction occurs by nucleophilic addition of water to the protonated amide, followed by transfer of a proton from oxygen to nitrogen to make the nitrogen a better leaving group and subsequent elimination. The steps are reversible, with the equilibrium shifted toward product by protonation of NH3 in the final step. 

Conversion of Amides into Amines Reduction Like other carboxylic acid derivatives, amides can be reduced by LiAlH.4. The product of the reduction, however, is an amine rather than an alcohol. The net effect of an amide reduction reaction is thus the conversion of the amide carbonyl group into a methylene group (C=0 —> CTbV This kind of reaction is specific for amides and does not occur with other carboxylic acid derivatives. 

The cationic pathway allows the conversion of carboxylic acids into ethers, acetals or amides. From a-aminoacids versatile chiral building blocks are accessible. The eliminative decarboxylation of vicinal diacids or P-silyl carboxylic acids, combined with cycloaddition reactions, allows the efficient construction of cyclobutenes or cyclohexadienes. The induction of cationic rearrangements or fragmentations is a potent way to specifically substituted cyclopentanoids and ring extensions by one-or four carbons. In view of these favorable qualities of Kolbe electrolysis, numerous useful applications of this old reaction can be expected in the future. 

The phosphinic isocyanates (116) and isothiocyanates (117) react with oxygen, nitrogen, and phosphorus nucleophiles by attack at carbon rather than phosphorus. Phenyl phosphonodichloridate has been recommended as a useful reagent for the activation (presumably by mixed anhydride formation) of carboxylic acids for conversion to amides and hydrazides. ... 

Carboxylic acids can also be activated by the formation of mixed anhydrides with various phosphoric acid derivatives. Diphenyl phosphoryl azide, for example, is an effective reagent for conversion of amines to amides.140 The proposed mechanism involves formation of the acyl azide as a reactive intermediate. 

A special case of amide formation was observed in the reaction of a furan-2-carboxylic acid with two moles of CDI and subsequent conversion with amines, hi this reaction, besides formation of the imidazolide, addition of imidazole also takes places.1-1411... 

Conversions of carboxylic acids to ketones are typically performed in stepwise fashion6 via intermediates such as acid chlorides,7 anhydrides,8 thioesters,9 or N-alkoxy amides,10 or by the direct reaction of carboxylic adds with lithium reagents.11 In this latter method trimethylsifyl chloride has been shown to be an effective reagent for trapping the tetrahedral alkoxide intermediates and for quenching excess organolithium reagent. 

Although the ability of microwaves (MW) to heat water and other polar materials has been known for half a century or more, it was not until 1986 that two groups of researchers independently reported the application of MW heating to organic synthesis. Gedye et al. [1] found that several organic reactions in polar solvents could be performed rapidly and conveniently in closed Teflon vessels in a domestic MW oven. These reactions included the hydrolysis of amides and esters to carboxylic acids, esterification of carboxylic acids with alcohols, oxidation of alkyl benzenes to aromatic carboxylic acids and the conversion of alkyl halides to ethers. 

In Table 9, some conversions of heterocyclic carboxylic acids and esters are shown. The reactions involve amide formation, hydrolysis, and decarboxylation. 

Acyl-transfer reactions are some of the most important conversions in organic chemistry and biochemistry. Recent work has shown that adjacent cationic groups can also activate amides in acyl-transfer reactions. Friedel-Crafts acylations are known to proceed well with carboxylic acids, acid chlorides (and other halides), and acid anhydrides, but there are virtually no examples of acylations with simple amides.19 During studies related to unsaturated amides, we observed a cyclization reaction that is essentially an intramolecular acyl-transfer reaction involving an amide (eq 15). The indanone product is formed by a cyclization involving the dicationic species (40). To examine this further, the related amides 41 and 42 were studied in superacid promoted conversions (eqs 16-17). It was found that amide 42 leads to the indanone product while 41... 

On Sulphonyl Chlorides and Sulphonamides.—The conversion of benzenesulphonic acid into its chloride and amide shows that derivatives of sulphonic acids, analogous to those of carboxylic acids, can be obtained. The sulpho-chlorides are much less reactive than are the chlorides of the carboxylic acids benzene sulphochloride, for example, can be dis-stilled in steam almost without decomposition. 

A one-pot conversion of carboxylic acids into esters and amide derivatives from alcohols, amines or hydrazines has been reported [53], which involves the initial reaction of the acid with methane- or toluenesulphonyl chloride to yield a mixed anhydride. 

One-pot conversion of carboxylic acids into esters and amides... 

The ease of the Strecker synthesis from aldehydes makes a-aminonitriles an attractive and important route to a-amino acids. Fortunately, the microbial world offers a number of enzymes for carrying out the necessary conversions, some of them highly stereoselective. Nitrilases catalyze a direct conversion of nitrile into carboxylic acid (Equation (11)), whereas nitrile hydratases catalyze formation of the amide, which can then be hydrolyzed to the carboxylic acid in a second step (Equation (12)). In a recent survey, with a view to bioremediation and synthesis, Brady et al have surveyed the ability of a wide range of bacteria and yeasts to grow on diverse nitriles and amides as sole nitrogen source. This provides a rich source of information on enzymes for future application. 

However, morpholine-4-carboxylic acid 2-hydroxy-1-methyl-ethyl ester is formed by the reaction of PC and the substrate morpholine in an undesired side reaction. By use of 1.4-dioxane or the pyrrolidones as mediator s3 about 30 to 45% of the morphoUne is consumed by this side reaction. The by-product is contained in the PC phase and can not be extracted to the non-polar product phase. The selectivity to the desired amines is lowered, because of the consiunption of the morphoUne. Thus, PC has to be substituted by another polar solvent (e.g. water, methanol or ethylene glycol) in future experiments. The lactates react with the morphoUne, too resulting in the corresponding amide. Overall, the hydroaminomethylation in the TMS systems PC/dodecane/lactate results in a conversion of 1-octene of about 80%, but in selectivities to the amines of only 50 to 60%. 

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