Amino acids synthesis, from ammonia

Weber AL. Prebiotic amino acid thioester synthesis thiol-dependent amino acid synthesis from formose substrates (formaldehyde and glycolaldehyde) and ammonia. Orig. Life Evol. Biosph. 1998 28 259-270. 

Raney nickel desulfurization has been applied especially to the synthesis of different kinds of amino acids. a-Amino acids have been prepared by the Strecker synthesis of substituted thiophenealdehydes, followed by desulfurization of the thiophene a-amino acids. a-Amino-n-enantic acid, a-amino-n-caprylic acid, and norleucin have been obtained in about 50% yield from the appropriate thiophene aldehydes. From the desulfurization of thiophene -amino acids, obtained from the reaction of thiophenealdehydes with malonic acid in ammonia, aliphatic j8-amino acids, isolated as acetates, have been obtained in high yields. The desulfurization of 3-nitrothiophenes, such as (232), in ammonia leads to y-substituted amino acids (233). ... 

Arthur L. Weber (1998), now working at the Seti Institute of the Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, reports the successful synthesis of amino acid thioesters from formose substrates (formaldehyde and glycolaldehyde) and ammonia synthesis of alanine and homoserine was possible when thiol catalysts were added to the reaction mixture. On the basis of his experimental results, Weber (1998) suggests the process shown in Fig. 7.10 to be a general prebiotic route to amino acid thioesters. 

The first example of a dynamic flux analysis was a study performed in the 1960s [269]. In the yeast Candida utilis, the authors determined metabolic fluxes via the amino acid synthesis network by applying a pulse with 15N-labeled ammonia and chasing the label with unlabeled ammonia. Differential equations were then used to calculate the isotope abundance of intermediates in these pathways, with unknown rate values fitted to experimental data. In this way, the authors could show that only glutamic acid and glutamine-amide receive their nitrogen atoms directly from ammonia, to then pass it on to the other amino acids. 

The photoelectrochemical synthesis of amino acids from simple molecules has also been reported. Low efficiencies were observed in the conversion of mixtures of methane, ammonia and water to several amino acids on platinized TiOz Amino acids and peptides were reported when glucose replaced methane as the carbon source in a parallel experiment Higher quantum efficiencies (20-40%) were observed in the conversion of alpha-keto acids or alpha-hydroxy acids to the corresponding alpha-amino acids Moderate levels of enantiomeric selectivity (optical yields of about 50%) were reported when chiral starting materials were employed. Photoinduced Michael-like reactions were observed when alpha, beta unsaturated acids were used as substrates for the amino acid synthesis... 

Herbicides that inhibit enzymes important for amino acid synthesis account for 28% of the herbicide market. Just three enzymes are involved the enzyme that adds phosphoenolpyruvate to shikimate-3-phoshate in the pathway leading to aromatic compounds, the enzyme that makes glutamine from glutamate and ammonia, and the first common enzyme in the biosynthesis of the branched-chain amino acids. 

A large number of oc-amino sulfonic acids have been prepared from the hydrogen sulfite adducts ( -hydroxy sulfonic acids) and ammonia or amines at or slightly above room temperature. 976They are very important intermediates in the Knoevenagel-Bucherer form of the Strecker amino acid synthesis (cf. page 877). In this synthesis the aldehyde-bisulfite compounds are converted by ammonia or amines into a-amino sulfonic acids and thence by alkali cyanide or hydrogen cyanide into oc-amino nitriles, which are then hydrolysed ... 

Two still-used methods for the synthesis of amino acids date from the nineteenth century. One is a nucleophilic substitution in which ammonia reacts with an a-halo carboxylic acid. 

In 1959 a new non-protein L-a-amino acid was isolated from the seeds of Acacia willardiana and later from other species of Acacia-, it proved to be l-/3-amino-/3-carboxyethyluracil (977) (59ZPC(316)164). The structure was confirmed by at least four syntheses in the next few years. The most important involves a Shaw synthesis (Section 2.13.3.1.2e) of the acetal (975) and hydrolysis to the aldyhyde (976) followed by a Strecker reaction (potassium cyanide, ammonia and ammonium chloride) to give DL-willardiine (977) after resolution, the L-isomer was identical with natural material (62JCS583). Although not unambiguous, a Principal Synthesis from the ureido acid (978) and ethyl formylacetate is the most direct route (64ZOB407). 

In the second major method of peptide synthesis the carboxyl group is activated by converting it to an active ester, usually a p-nitrophenyl ester. Recall from Section 20.12 that esters react with ammonia and amines to give fflnides. p-Nitrophenyl esters are much more reactive than methyl and ethyl esters in these reactions because p-nitrophenoxide is a better (less basic) leaving group than methoxide and ethoxide. Simply allowing the active ester and a C-protected amino acid to stand in a suitable solvent is sufficient to bring about peptide bond formation by nucleophilic acyl substitution. 

For betaxanthins, partial synthesis is quite common and presents a viable tool for identification by co-injection experiments. - Starting from a red beet extract or semi-purified betanin-isobetanin blend, alkaline hydrolysis by addition of 32% ammonia is initiated. Spectrophotometric monitoring at 424 nm allows the release of betalamic acid to be followed. Betaxanthins are obtained through the addition of the respective amino acid or amine in at least 20-fold molar excess followed by careful evaporation. Since the starting material most often consists of a racemic betacyanin mixture, the resulting betaxanthin will also consist of two stereoisomers that may not easily be separated by HPLC. ... 

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