APAES

Many semi-synthetic penicillins are made from 6-aminopenicillanic acid (6-APA, R = NH2>. 

Under natural conditions various strains of Penicillium fungi produce either penicillin G or free 6-aminopenicillanic add ( = 6-APA). The techniques used to prepare analogues such as the ones given above have been (i) fermentation in the presence of an excess of appropriate adds which may be incorporated as side-chain (ii) chemical acylation of 6-APA with activated acid derivatives. 

APA may be either obtained directly from special Penicillium strains or by hydrolysis of penicillin Q with the aid of amidase enzymes. A major problem in the synthesis of different amides from 6-APA is the acid- and base-sensitivity of its -lactam ring which is usually very unstable outside of the pH range from 3 to 6. One synthesis of ampidllin applies the condensation of 6-APA with a mixed anhydride of N-protected phenylglydne. Catalytic hydrogenation removes the N-protecting group. Yields are low (2 30%) (without scheme). 

Another synthesis avoids the isolation of 6-APA and starts directly with penidllin G. Reaction with chloromethyl pivalate gives its pivaloyloxymethyl ester. This reacts with PCI5 to an imidoyl chloride which may be solvolyzed with propanol. The add chloride of (R)-... 

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A second method makes use of the lactone (31) from acetone dicarboxylate (40) and for which a synthesis from (—)-carvone has been reported (41). Displacement of chlorine from the 6-aminopenici11anic acid (6-APA) derived P-lactam (32) by (33) illustrates yet another approach to the dia2oketone (28) (42). 

Fig. 10. Synthesis of moxalactam (48) from 6-amiaopeniciUanic acid (6-APA) where R is CH(CgH )2, DMSO is dimethyl sulfoxide and DBN is l,5-dia2abicyclo[4.3.0]non-5-ene. The overall yield of (63) is 26% from 6-APA in the 13 steps shown.

Numerous other penicillin sulfones have been reported to be P-lactamase inhibitors, as illustrated in Table 5. The effect of C-6 substituents has been extensively explored starting with 6-APA sulfone (25, R = NH2, R = H, R" = R " = CH ), which has modest activity. Mechanistic considerations led to preparation of sulfones of poor substrates, compounds such as methicillin, cloxaciUin, nafaciUin, and quinaciUin sulfone (25,... 

The only penicillins used in their natural form are benzylpenicillin (penicillin G) and phenoxymethylpenicillin (penicillin V). The remainder of penicillins in clinical use are derived from 6-APA and most penicillins having useful biological properties have resulted from acylation of 6-APA using standard procedures. 

Chemical Modification. Chemical modification of most positions in the penicillin nucleus have been carried out and these are summarized in Table 4. Apart from acylation of 6-APA, few of these modifications have proven profitable in terms of improving the biological properties of the derived penicillins. However, one of the modifications that has led to beneficial properties is substitution at the 6a-position. 

Most methods used for the production of the commercially important a-amino penicillins, such as ampicillin and amoxicillin, are based on modifications of an enamine process employing the appropriate phenylglycine and methylacetoacetate followed by coupling with 6-APA (64). Other aspects of the fermentation, strain maintenance, equipment, inoculum development, media, and procedures used in the production of penicillin are well covered in previous editions of the Enyclopedia. Developments in these areas have been reviewed (65). 

The cost of 6-APA, ampicillin, and amoxicillin is invariably linked to that of penicillin G. 6-APA remains one of the cheapest raw starting materials available for the preparation of semisynthetic penicillins and other related P-lactam antibiotics. 

The second most important group of immobilized enzymes is stiU the penicillin G and V acylases. These are used in the pharmaceutical industry to make the intermediate 6-aminopenici11anic acid [551-16-6] (6-APA), which in turn is used to manufacture semisynthetic penicillins, in particular ampicilHn [69-53-4] and amoxicillin [26787-78-0]. This is a remarkable example of how a complex chemical synthesis can be replaced with a simple enzymatic one ... 

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