Amino acids cyclization

Lactamization. In the presence of this reagent, w-amino acids cyclize to lactams. Yields are 75-93% for cyclization to 5- and 6-membered lactams. 

When p-arylserines rather than glycine are used as the starting amino acid, cyclization occurs concomitant with dehydration to afford the corresponding unsaturated 5(4//)-oxazolone." ... 

Scheme 99 Synthesis of P-lactam by P-amino acid cyclization...

P-Lactams from P-amino acids.1 p-Amino acids cyclize to p-lactams on treatment with (C6H5)2P(0)C1 and triethylamine (1 1) in CH,CN at 80° usually with preservation of the stereochemistry of the amino acid. However, yields are rather low when the amino group is primary. 

Synthesis and Polymerization of Leuchs Anhydrides. The N-carboxy-a-amino acid anhydrides, referred to as Leuchs anhydrides or as NCAs, are synthesized either from N-alkoxycarbonyl derivatives of a-amino acids or from free amino acids. Cyclization of the amino acid derivative by SOCl2 or similar reagents was described first by Leuchs in 1906, but direct synthesis involves treating the a-amino acid or its hydrochloride with phosgene as shown in Figure 4. This method, commonly termed the Fuchs-Farthing method, is the one that is used most frequently since the N-carboxyanhydride may be freed easily from the carbamyl chloride, isocyanate derivative, and hydrogen chloride by crystallization. 

Benzylthio or 2-benzyloxy derivatives of A-2-thiazoline-5-one (224) are readily opened by amines to give the amide derivatives (225) (Scheme 115) (459. 471). Compound 225 can be cyclized thermally to the corresponding thiohydantoins (459). Similarly, treatment of 4-substituted-2-phenylthiazol-5(4H)-ones (226) with amino acids, peptides, or hydrazine affords the corresponding Nfcti-thiobenzamidoacetylated derivatives (227) (Scheme 116) (455). 

Synthesis from OC-Amino Acids and Related Compounds. Addition of cyanates, isocyanates, and uiea derivatives to a-amino acids yields hydantoin piecuisois. This method is called the Read synthesis (2), and can be considered as the reverse of hydantoin hydrolysis. Thus the reaction of a-amino acids with alkaline cyanates affords hydantoic acids, which cyclize to hydantoins in an acidic medium. 

Induction of Asymmetry by Amino Acids. No fewer than sis types of reactions can be carried out with yields of 75—100% usiag amino acid catalysts, ie, catalytic hydrogenation, iatramolecular aldol cyclizations, cyanhydrin synthesis, alkylation of carbonyl compounds, hydrosdylation, and epoxidations (91). 

The principal pathway for the decomposition of aspartame begins with the cleavage of the ester bond, which may or may not be accompanied by cyclization (Eig. 2). The resultant diketopipera2ine and/or dipeptide can be further hydroly2ed into individual amino acids (qv). 

Tnflrc anhydride is a useful reagent for the preparation of covalent triflate esters from alcohols, ketones, and other organic substrates [66] In many cases, very reactive triflates can be generated m situ and subjected to subsequent transformation without isolation [94, 95, 96, 97] Typical examples are cyclization of amides into dihydroisoqumolines (equation 45) and synthesis of Al-hydroxy-a-amino acid denvatives (equation 46) via the intermediate covalent triflates... 

FIGURE 5.19 N-Tertninal analysis using Edman s reagent, phenylisothiocyanate. Phenylisothiocyanate combines with the N-terminus of a peptide under mildly alkaline conditions to form a phenylthiocarbamoyl substitution. Upon treatment with TFA (trifluo-roacetic acid), this cyclizes to release the N-terminal amino acid residue as a thiazolinone derivative, but the other peptide bonds are not hydrolyzed. Organic extraction and treatment with aqueous acid yield the N-terminal amino acid as a phenylthiohydantoin (PTH) derivative. 

The saturated 2,2 -bis-oxazolones (10) are conveniently prepared [Eq. (7)] in two-steps via iV, iV -diacylbis-(a-amino acids), which cyclize in hot acetic anhydride. If R is aliphatic, alkali hydroxides... 

A recent report describes the conversion of A-formyl- and N-acetyl-L-leucine into optically active azlactones with dicyclohexyl-carbodiimide (DCC) [Eq. (29)]. Other cyclization reagents, e.g. acetic anhydride, POCI3, SOCI2, and polyphosphoric acid, cause racemiza-tion. These azlactones react with optically active amino acid esters to give esters of dipeptides with retention of activity. 

Nucleophilic aromatic substitution of the anthranilic acid derivatives, 72, on ortho-bromonitrobenzene affords the diphenyl-amine, 73. The ester is then saponified and the nitro group reduced to the amine (74). Cyclization of the resulting amino acid by heat affords the lactam (75). Alkylation on the amide nitrogen with 2-dimethylaminoethyl chloride by means of sodium amide affords dibenzepine (76). ... 

Reductive alkylation by alcohol solvents may occur as an unwanted side reaction 22,39), and it is to avoid this reaction that Freifelder (20) recom mends ruthenium instead of nickel in pyridine hydrogenation. Alkylation by alcohols may occur with surprising ease 67). Reduction of 18 in ethanol over 10% palladium-on carbon to an amino acid, followed bycyclization with /V,/V-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide gave a mixture of 19 and 20 wiih the major product being the /V-ethyl derivative 49,50). By carrying out the reduction in acetic acid, 20 was obtained as the sole cyclized product 40). 

Since the proline residue in peptides facilitates the cyclization, 3 sublibraries each containing 324 compounds were prepared with proline in each randomized position. Resolutions of 1.05 and 2.06 were observed for the CE separation of racemic DNP-glutamic acid using peptides with proline located on the first and second random position, while the peptide mixture with proline preceding the (i-alamine residue did not exhibit any enantioselectivity. Since the c(Arg-Lys-0-Pro-0-(i-Ala) library afforded the best separation, the next deconvolution was aimed at defining the best amino acid at position 3. A rigorous deconvolution process would have required the preparation of 18 libraries with each amino acid residue at this position. 

The second part of lanosterol biosynthesis is catalyzed by oxidosqualene lanosterol cyclase and occurs as shown in Figure 27.14. Squalene is folded by the enzyme into a conformation that aligns the various double bonds for undergoing a cascade of successive intramolecular electrophilic additions, followed by a series of hydride and methyl migrations. Except for the initial epoxide protonation/cyclization, the process is probably stepwise and appears to involve discrete carbocation intermediates that are stabilized by electrostatic interactions with electron-rich aromatic amino acids in the enzyme. 

The earliest method developed for the preparation of nonracemic aziridine-2-car-boxylates was the cyclization of naturally occurring (3-hydroxy-a-amino acid derivatives (serine or threonine) [4]. The (3-hydroxy group is normally activated as a tosyl or mesyl group, which is ideal for an intramolecular SN2 displacement. The cyclization has been developed in both one-pot and stepwise fashion [4—9]. As an example, serine ester 3 (Scheme 3.2) was treated with tosyl chloride in the presence of triethylamine to afford aziridine-2-carboxylate 4 in 71% yield [9]. Cyclization of a-hydroxy- 3-amino esters to aziridine-2-carboxylates under similar conditions has also been described [10]. 

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