Aspartic acid solubility

It is evident that the area of water-soluble polymer covets a multitude of appHcations and encompasses a broad spectmm of compositions. Proteins (qv) and other biological materials ate coveted elsewhere in the Eniyclopedia. One of the products of this type, poly(aspartic acid), may be developed into interesting biodegradable commercial appHcations (70,71). 

Alitame (trade name Adame) is a water-soluble, crystalline powder of high sweetness potency (2000X, 10% sucrose solution sweetness equivalence). The sweet taste is clean, and the time—intensity profile is similar to that of aspartame. Because it is a stericaHy hindered amide rather than an ester, ahtame is expected to be more stable than aspartame. At pH 2 to 4, the half-life of aUtame in solution is reported to be twice that of aspartame. The main decomposition pathways (Fig. 6) include conversion to the unsweet P-aspartic isomer (17) and hydrolysis to aspartic acid and alanine amide (96). No cyclization to diketopiperazine or hydrolysis of the alanine amide bond has been reported. AUtame-sweetened beverages, particularly colas, that have a pH below 4.0 can develop an off-flavor which can be avoided or minimized by the addition of edetic acid (EDTA) [60-00-4] (97). 

Synthetic Polymers. Synthetic polymers are versatile and offer promise for both targeting and extracellular-intracellular drug delivery. Of the many soluble synthetic polymers known, the poly(amino acids) [poly(L-lysine), poly(L-aspartic acid), and poly(glutamic acid)], poly(hydroxypropylmethacrylamide) copolymers (polyHPMA), and maleic anhydride copolymers have been investigated extensively, particularly in the treatment of cancers. A brief discussion of these materials is presented. 

Glutamic Acid.—The greater part of the glutamic acid is isolated as hydrochloride before the mixture of amino acids is esterified. It is contained with aspartic acid ester in the aqueous solution after the phenylalanine ester has been extracted by ether, and it is separated from aspartic acid, after hydrolysis by baryta, by conversion into its hydrochloride from this it is obtained by treatment with the calculated quantity of soda to combine with the hydrochloric acid and by crystallisation from water, in which it is soluble with some difficulty. 

The mother liquor contains too little DL-aspartic acid to justify its recovery. When the filtrate and washings are evaporated to a syrup and treated with 500 ml. of 95% ethanol, the pyridine hydrochloride dissolves completely, leaving 8-9 g. of crude glycine which yields little or no sparingly soluble DL-aspartic acid on treatment with a minimum quantity of cold water. 

Alitame [L- -aspartyl-/V-(2,2,4,4-tetramethyl-3-thioethanyl)-D-alaninamide] is an amino acid-based sweetener developed by Pfizer from L-aspartic acid, D-alanine, and an amine 2,2,4,4-tetraethylthioethanyl amine (Fig. 1). Its formula is CI4H2504N3S with a molecular weight of 331.06. It is produced under the brand name Aclame . It is a crystalline, odorless, nonhygro-scopic powder that is soluble in water (130 g/L at pH 5.6) and alcohol and significantly more stable than aspartame (Table 1). Alitame is 2000 times as sweet as sucrose and has a clean, sweet taste, with no unpleasant aftertaste. It blends with other sweeteners, such as acesulfame-K, saccharin, and cyclamate, to maximize the quality of sweetness (3,7-9). 

Aspartame is the generic name for IV-ai-aspartyl-L-phenylalanine methyl ester. It is composed of two amino acids, L-aspartic acid and L-phenylalanine, joined by a methyl ester link. It was discovered in 1965 by J. Schlatter at the G.D. Searle Laboratories. It is a white crystalline product and its solubility in water is 10 g/1 at 20°C this figure increases at elevated temperatures and in acidic conditions (Ajinomoto Aspartame Technical Bulletin, 2003). It is sparingly soluble in other solvents. 

The B block may consist of a water-soluble polymer, for example, poly(aspartic acid) P(Asp), that is rendered hydrophobic by the chemical conjugation of a hydrophobic drug (Yokoyama et al., 1992, 1993, 1996 Nakanishi et al., 2001), or is formed through the association of two oppositely changed polyions (polyion complex micelles) (Hatada etal., 1995,1998 Kataoka etal., 1996). Drugs used to couple the B block include cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, cisplatin, pyrene, and iodine derivative of benzoic acid (Kwon and Kataoka, 1995 Trubetskoy et al., 1997 Yu etal., 1998). 

When amino acid ester prodrugs of acetaminophen were prepared (Kovach et al., 1975 Pitman, 1976), the hydrobromide salt of the glycine ester showed enhanced solubility in water, but the hydrochloride salt of th -aspartic acid ester exhibited a solubility lower than that of the parent compound. The enhanced solubility resulted from the formation of a salt, while the parent drug is a weakly acidic phenol and behaves as essentially a neutral molecule in solution. The reduced solubility in the case of th0-aspartic acid ester resulted from ionization of the terminal carboxylic acid, which, with the protonated amine, gives a zwitterionic compound. The zwitterion also behaved as a molecule with an overall neutral character, as is commonly observed with zwitterion behavior in aqueous media, but its larger size resulted in a further reduced solubility. 

Yoshida, T., Maeda, K., Kobayashi, M., and Ichishima, E. (1994). Chemical modification of Penicillium 1,2-a-D-mannosidase by water-soluble carbodi-imide identification of a catalytic important aspartic acid residue. Biochem. J., 303, 97-103. 

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