Amino acids stereoselectivity

Enantiomerically pure a-bromacyl-imidazolidinones can be reacted with nitrogen nucleophiles to give pure stereoisomers with either retention or inversion of configuration141 (Schemes 25 and 26, respectively). The products can be readily converted to pure amino acids stereoselectively. 

Synthetic utility of stereoselective alkylations in natural product chemistry is exemplified by the preparation of optically active 2-arylglycine esters (38). Chirally specific a-amino acids with methoxyaryl groups attached to the a-carbon were prepared by reaction of the dimethyl ether of a chiral bis-lactam derivative with methoxy arenes. Using SnCl as the Lewis acid, enantioselectivities ranging from 65 to 95% were obtained. 

Stereoselective Acylations. Intramolecular Ftiedel-Crafts acylation reaction of A/-ataLkyl a-amino acid detivatives gives cycHc ketones with high enantioselectivity (100). This methodology has been used for the enantiospeciftc syntheses of tylophorine [482-20-2] and cryptopleutine [87302-53-2] the ptincipal representatives of phenanthroiadolizidine and phenanthroquiaolizidine alkaloids (qv) (101). 

Synthesis from Aldehydes and Ketones. Treatment of aldehydes and ketones with potassium cyanide and ammonium carbonate gives hydantoias ia a oae-pot procedure (Bucherer-Bergs reactioa) that proceeds through a complex mechanism (69). Some derivatives, like oximes, semicarbazones, thiosemicarbazones, and others, are also suitable startiag materials. The Bucherer-Bergs and Read hydantoia syntheses give epimeric products when appHed to cycloalkanones, which is of importance ia the stereoselective syathesis of amino acids (69,70). 

Both pure L- and D-amino acids can be made using hydantoinase enzymes. These enzymes catalyze the stereoselective hydrolysis of racemic hydantoins such as (50) which is used for the production of D-alanine (15) (58). 

Depending on the stereoselectivity of the reaction, either the or the 5 configuration can generated at C-2 in the product. This corresponds to enantioselective synthesis of the d md L enantiomers of a-amino acids. Hydrogenation using chiral catalysts has been carefully investigated. The most effective catalysts for the reaction are ihodiiun... 

At the other extreme of the stereoselectivity spectrum of the Bucherer-Bergs reaction, the steric bias is sometimes not powerful enough to exert any selectivity at all, as exemplified by the conversion of 37 — 38. " Amino acid 38 was produced as a 1 1 mixture of two diastereomers. 

Chiral 4,5-disubstituted oxazolidin-2-ones in stereoselective synthesis of (3-hydroxy-a-amino acids 97G475. 

Recently, Charette et al. have also demonstrated this behavior in the stereoselective cyciopropanations of a number of enantiopure acyclic allylic ethers [47]. The high degree of acyclic stereocontrol in the Simmons-Smith cyclopropanation has been extended to synthesis several times, most notably in the synthesis of small biomolecules. Schollkopf et al. utilized this method in their syntheses of cyclopropane-containing amino acids [48 a, b]. The synthesis of a cyclopropane-containing nucleoside was also preformed using acyclic stereocontrol [48c]. 

Jager and coworkers have used the TBAF catalyzed-stereoselective niho-aldol reaction for the synthesis of cyclic amino alcohols such as iminopolyols, imino sugars, and cyclic amino acids. They are important classes of compounds and have the potential utility as anh-diabetic. 

Jackson and coworkers have used a new approach to the synthesis of fi-hydtoxy-ct-amino acids using farylthio nitrooxiranes. c-Jsopropylideneglyceraldehyde is converted into the corresponding 1-arylthio-l-nitroalkene, which is a key material for stereoselective synthesis of fi,Y-dihydroxyamino acids fScheme 4.6. The key step is stereoselective nucleophilic epoxlda-donof the Tarylthio-Tnltroalkene. Sy)i and ruin epoxides are selecdvely obtained by appropriate choice of epoxidadon reagent." ... 

As described in Section 2.3.2, vinylaziridines are versatile intermediates for the stereoselective synthesis of (E)-alkene dipeptide isosteres. One of the simplest methods for the synthesis of alkene isosteres such as 242 and 243 via aziridine derivatives of type 240 and 241 (Scheme 2.59) involves the use of chiral anti- and syn-amino alcohols 238 and 239, synthesizable in turn from various chiral amino aldehydes 237. However, when a chiral N-protected amino aldehyde derived from a natural ot-amino acid is treated with an organometallic reagent such as vinylmag-nesium bromide, a mixture of anti- and syn-amino alcohols 238 and 239 is always obtained. Highly stereoselective syntheses of either anti- or syn-amino alcohols 238 or 239, and hence 2,3-trans- or 2,3-as-3-alkyl-2-vinylaziridines 240 or 241, from readily available amino aldehydes 237 had thus hitherto been difficult. Ibuka and coworkers overcame this difficulty by developing an extremely useful epimerization of vinylaziridines. Palladium(0)-catalyzed reactions of 2,3-trons-2-vinylaziri-dines 240 afforded the thermodynamically more stable 2,3-cis isomers 241 predominantly over 240 (241 240 >94 6) through 7i-allylpalladium intermediates, in accordance with ab initio calculations [29]. This epimerization allowed a highly stereoselective synthesis of (E) -alkene dipeptide isosteres 243 with the desired L,L-... 

With Sulfur Nucleophiles N-Carboxy-protected aziridine-2-carboxylates react with thiols to give P-mercapto-ot-amino acid derivatives. The reaction is usually catalyzed by BF3 and the yields range from fair to excellent [15, 16, 108-111]. With N-unprotected 3-substituted aziridine-2-carboxylates, the ring-opening with thiols usually takes place with anti stereoselectivity, especially in the case of the C-3 aliphatic substituted substrates. In cases in which C-3 is aromatic, however, the stereoselectivity has been found to be a function of the substitution pattern on the aromatic ring 3-p-methoxy ph eri yl-su bs li In led aziridines 143a (Scheme 3.51) and... 

Figure A8.9 Procedure for the preparation of optically active a-disubstituted amino acids through stereoselective enzymatic cydisation of the N-carbamoyl derivatives.

The addition of 2-propenyltris(diethylamino)titanium to 2-(dibenzylamino)alkanals, readily prepared from amino acids, yields the anti-amino alcohols with high stereoselectivity and free of racemization91. Allylsilanes, with Lewis acids under the conditions of chelation control, lead to the iyn-diastereomers91. 

In conclusion, the use of glycosylamincs as chiral templates in the Ugi reaction provides an efficient and highly stereoselective access to both l- and D-amino acids. 

An excellent method for the diastereoselective synthesis of substituted amino acids is based on optically active bislactim ethers of cyclodipeptides as Michael donors (Schollkopf method, see Section 1.5.2.4.2.2.4.). Thus, the lithium enolates of bislactim ethers, from amino acids add in a 1,4-fashion to various a,/i-unsaturated esters with high diastereofacial selectivity (syn/anti ratios > 99.3 0.7-99.5 0.5). For example, the enolate of the lactim ether derivative 6, prepared from (S)-valine and glycine, adds in a highly stereoselective manner to methyl ( )-3-phenyl-propenoate a cis/trans ratio of 99.6 0.4 and a syn/anti ratio of 91 9, with respect to the two new stereogenic centers, in the product 7 are found105, los. 

Stereoselectivity and reactivity in complexes of amino-acids and peptides. R. D. Gillard, Inorg. Chim. Acta, Rev., 1967,1,69-86 (102). 

Extensive studies of stereoselective polymerization of epoxides were carried out by Tsuruta et al.21 s. Copolymerization of a racemic mixture of propylene oxide with a diethylzinc-methanol catalyst yielded a crystalline polymer, which was resolved into optically active polymers216 217. Asymmetric selective polymerization of d-propylene oxide from a racemic mixture occurs with asymmetric catalysts such as diethyzinc- (+) bomeol218. This reaction is explained by the asymmetric adsorption of monomers onto the enantiomorphic catalyst site219. Furukawa220 compared the selectivities of asymmetric catalysts composed of diethylzinc amino acid combinations and attributed the selectivity to the bulkiness of the substituents in the amino acid. With propylene sulfide, excellent asymmetric selective polymerization was observed with a catalyst consisting of diethylzinc and a tertiary-butyl substituted a-glycol221,222. ... 

The complex obtained from commercially available chiral a-amino acids (AA) with Cu + ion induces asymmetry in the Diels-Alder reaction of 31 (R = H) with 32. By using 10% Cu(II)-AA (AA = L-abrine) the cycloaddition occurs e/iJo-stereoselectively in 48 h at 0°C with high yield and with acceptable enantioselectivity ee = 1A%). This is the first example of enantioselective Lewis-acid catalysis of an organic reaction in water [9b]. 

Ishihara K., Hattori K., Yamamoto H. Highly Stereoselective Synthesis of p-Amino Esters via Donhle Stereodifferentiation in EnantioseL Synth. fi-Amino Acids 1997 159, Ed. Juaristi E., Pb. Wiley-VCH N.Y. 

The lipase (PAL) used in these studies is a hydrolase having the usual catalytic triad composed of aspartate, histidine, and serine [42] (Figure 2.6). Stereoselectivity is determined in the first step, which involves the formation of the oxyanion. Unfortunately, X-ray structural characterization of the (S)- and (J )-selective mutants are not available. However, consideration of the crystal structure of the WT lipase [42] is in itself illuminating. Surprisingly, it turned out that many of the mutants have amino acid exchanges remote from the active site [8,22,40]. 

Enzyme preparations from liver or microbial sources were reported to show rather high substrate specificity [76] for the natural phosphorylated acceptor d-(18) but, at much reduced reaction rates, offer a rather broad substrate tolerance for polar, short-chain aldehydes [77-79]. Simple aliphatic or aromatic aldehydes are not converted. Therefore, the aldolase from Escherichia coli has been mutated for improved acceptance of nonphosphorylated and enantiomeric substrates toward facilitated enzymatic syntheses ofboth d- and t-sugars [80,81]. High stereoselectivity of the wild-type enzyme has been utilized in the preparation of compounds (23) / (24) and in a two-step enzymatic synthesis of (22), the N-terminal amino acid portion of nikkomycin antibiotics (Figure 10.12) [82]. 

Figure 10.12 Stereoselective synthesis ofthe amino acid portion of nikkomycin antibiotics and hexulosonic acids using KDPGIc aldolase.

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