And the Strecker synthesis

Q Show how to make a given amino acid using one of the following syntheses Reductive amination, HVZ followed by ammonia, the Gabriel-malonic ester synthesis, and the Strecker synthesis. Problems 24-34, 35, 37, 38, and 39... 

In Ugi s four-component condensation, imine formation from an aldehyde 1 and an amine 2 is likewise the initiating step [5, 6] a carboxylic acid 9 and an isonitrile 10 are the other reaction components, which finally yield the bisamide 11. Both for this reaction and the Strecker synthesis, the galactosylamine 12 is particularly suitable for carrying out a stereoselective reaction (synthesis of 13) [4d-e, 5f. With an aminoglucopyranose as a chiral auxiliary, the stereoselectivity of the reaction can be further increased [5b]. Amino acids as condensation components yield particularly impressive results. For instance, the imino-... 

In Summary Racemic amino acids are made by the amination of 2-bromocarboxylic acids, applications of the Gabriel synthesis of amines, and the Strecker synthesis. The last method proceeds through an imine variation of the preparation of cyanohydrins, followed by hydrolysis. 

In the Strecker synthesis an aldehyde is converted to an a ammo acid with one more carbon atom by a two stage procedure m which an a ammo nitrile is an mterme diate The a ammo nitrile is formed by reaction of the aldehyde with ammonia or an ammonium salt and a source of cyanide ion Hydrolysis of the nitrile group to a car boxylic acid function completes the synthesis... 

Aldehydes by reaction with ammonia and cyanide ion (the Strecker synthesis)... 

Hydroxyl Group. The OH group of cyanohydrins is subject to displacement with other electronegative groups. Cyanohydrins react with ammonia to yield amino nitriles. This is a step in the Strecker synthesis of amino acids. A one-step synthesis of a-amino acids involves treatment of cyanohydrins with ammonia and ammonium carbonate under pressure. Thus acetone cyanohydrin, when heated at 160°C with ammonia and ammonium carbonate for 6 h, gives a-aminoisobutyric acid [62-57-7] in 86% yield (7). Primary and secondary amines can also be used to displace the hydroxyl group to obtain A/-substituted and Ai,A/-disubstituted a-amino nitriles. The Strecker synthesis can also be appHed to aromatic ketones. Similarly, hydrazine reacts with two molecules of cyanohydrin to give the disubstituted hydrazine. 

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). ... 

A variant of the Strecker synthesis is the Bucherer-Bergs reaction it gives better yields, and proceeds via formation of an intermediate hydantoin 5 ... 

Historically the Strecker synthesis of a-amino acids constitutes the first chemical access to this important class of compounds1, In this process, an aldehyde reacts with ammonia and hydrogen cyanide to form an a-amino nitrile2 which subsequently is hydrolyzed to give the corresponding amino acid3... 

Like the Strecker synthesis, the Ugi reaction also involves a nucleophilic addition to an imine as the crucial step in which the stereogenic center of an a-amino acid derivative is formed4. The Ugi reaction, also denoted as a four-component condensation (A), is related to the older Passerini reaction5 (B) in an analogous fashion as the Strecker synthesis is to cyanohydrin formation. In both the Ugi and the Passerini reaction, an isocyanide takes the role of cyanide. 

As has been outlined for the Strecker synthesis, the Ugi reaction also proceeds via initial formation of a Schiff base from an aldehyde and an amine. The imine intermediate is attacked by the isocyanidc, a process which is supported by protonation of the imine by the carboxylic acid component. The resulting a-amino nitrilium intermediate is immediately trapped by the carboxylate to give an 6>-acyl imidiate. All steps up to this stage are reversible. Only the final oxygen to nitrogen acyl shift is irreversible and delivers the A-acyl-a-amino amide as the thermodynamically favored product which contains two amide groups. 

The synthesis of a-amino acids by reaction of aldehydes or ketones with ammonia and hydrogen cyanide followed by hydrolysis of the resulting a-aminonitrile is called the Strecker synthesis. Enzymatic hydrolysis has been applied to the kinetic resolution of intermediate a-aminonitriles [90,91]. The hydrolysis of (rac)-phenylglycine nitrile... 

A particularly useful variation of this reaction uses cyanide rather than HCN. a-Amino nitriles can be prepared in one step by the treatment of an aldehyde or ketone with NaCN and NH4CI. This is called the Strecker synthesisand it is a special case of the Mannich reaction (16-15). Since the CN is easily hydrolyzed to the acid, this is a convenient method for the preparation of a-amino acids. The reaction has also been carried out with NH3-I-HCN and with NH4CN. Salts of primary and secondary amines can be used instead of NH to obtain N-substituted and N,N-disubstituted a-amino nitriles. Unlike 16-51, the Strecker synthesis is useful for aromatic as well as aliphatic ketones. As in 16-51, the Me3SiCN method has been used 64 is converted to the product with ammonia or an amine. ... 

As early as 1996, Nelson and Miller (1996) reported initial successful experiments. They synthesized AEG and small amounts of ethylenediamine diacetic acid from mixtures containing ethylenediamine, formaldehyde and HCN thus the formation of AEG (Fig. 6.12) is possible via the Strecker synthesis (see Sect. 4.1). 

Amino acid formation in the Urey-Miller experiment and almost certainly in the prebiotic environment is via the Stecker synthesis shown in Figure 8.3. This reaction mechanism shows that the amino acids were not formed in the discharge itself but by reactions in the condensed water reservoir. Both HCN and HCO are formed from the bond-breaking reactions of N2 and H2O in a plasma, which then react with NH3 in solution. The C=0 group in formaldehyde or other aldehydes is replaced by to form NH and this undergoes a reaction with HCN to form the cyano amino compound that hydrates to the acid. The Strecker synthesis does not provide stereo-control over the carbon centre and must result in racemic mixtures of amino acids. There is no room for homochirality in this pathway. 

Endogenous organic synthesis Urey-Miller experiments as a source of prebiotic molecules via the Strecker synthesis for amino acids, HCN polymerisation for purines and pyrimidines and the formose reaction for sugars... 

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. 

A nice example of the chemical similarity between imines and carbonyl compounds is the Strecker synthesis of amino acids. This involves reaction of an aldehyde with ammonia and HCN (usually in the form of ammonium chloride plus KCN) to give an intermediate a-aminonitrile. Hydrolysis of the a-aminonitrile then produces the a-amino acid. 

With these comments about the Boesten et al. (2001) article in mind, go back and try exercise 2.14(f) again. Reexamine the Strecker synthesis article (at the end of chapter 2) and assign R or D to the appropriate sentences and/or paragraphs. 

The scope of the reaction depends on the availability of the starting aldehyde (or ketone). A drawback is the toxicity of the hydrogen cyanide used as reactant. A variant of the Strecker synthesis is the Bucherer-Bergs reaction it gives better yields, and proceeds via formation of an intermediate hydantoin 5 ... 

The synthetic strategy of preparing pyrazines by condensation of 2-keto aldoximes with a-amino nitriles is well represented by Taylor s pteridine synthesis, in which a variety of 2-amino-3-cyanopyrazine 1-oxides have been prepared by using aminomalononitrile <2002TL6747> as the amino nitriles. In the same fashion, some other a-amino nitriles, which are often the Strecker synthesis products, are converted into 2-aminopyrazine 1-oxides 160 (Scheme 44). The condensations are realized by treatment with iV-methylmorpholine <1993JOC7542>, and... 

It is of course surprising that amino acids can be obtained via the Strecker synthesis, purines from the condensation of HCN, pyrimidines from the reaction of cyanoacetilene with urea, and sugars from the autocatalytic condensation of formaldehyde. The synthesis of chemical constiments of contemporary organisms by non-enzymatic processes under laboratory conditions does not necessarily imply that they were either essential for the origin of life or available in the primitive environment. However, the significance of prebiotic simulation experiments is... 

Figure 2.5 Treating an aldehyde with ammonia and hydrogen cyanide produces an df-ammo nitrile. By hydrolysis of the nitrile group an df-amino acid is produced. This synthesis is called the Strecker synthesis.

A racemate of a desired building block may often be prodnced easily by conventional organic synthetic methods. For instance racemic amino acids can be obtained by the Strecker synthesis from an aldehyde, ammonia and hydrogen cyanide (See 2.3.2). 

These molecules are flexible because rotation about single bonds is free, so they can wrap themselves around a metal ion to obtain four comfortable donor-atom-to-metal links within five-membered rings. Nitrilotriacetic acid is easily synthesized industrially from ammonia, formaldehyde, and hydrocyanic acid (the Strecker synthesis) and therefore is potentially an inexpensive but effective chelating agent. 

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