Biological “active aldehyde

In a different approach, the reactivity of thiazolium salts derived acyl anion equivalents (biological active aldehyde ) toward sulfur electrophiles has been examined recently (329) and provides a model for the thioester-forming step catalyzed by the lipoic acid containing enzymes. The results suggest that the biological generation of thioesters of coenzyme A from a-keto acids occurs via the direct reductive acylation of enzyme-bound lipoic acid by the active aldehyde, as already shown on page 453. 

Thieno[3,2-c]pyridine, 4,5,6,7-tetrahydro-biological activity, 4, 1015 Thieno[2,3-6]pyridine-2-carb aldehyde synthesis, 4, 1014... 

An example of a biologically important aldehyde is pyridoxal phosphate, which is the active form of vitamin Bg and a coenzyme for many of the reactions of a-amino acids. In these reactions the amino acid binds to the coenzyme by reacting with it to form an imine of the kind shown in the equation. Reactions then take place at the amino acid portion of the imine, modifying the amino acid. In the last step, enzyme-catalyzed hydrolysis cleaves the imine to pyridoxal and the modified amino acid. 

Hydrazine and its derivatives find considerable use in the synthesis of biologically active materials, dyestuff intermediates and other organic derivatives. Reactions of aldehydes to form hydrazides (RCH=NNH2) and azines (RCH=NN=CHR) are well known in organic chemistry, as is the use of hydrazine and its derivatives in the synthesis of heterocyclic compounds. 

A number of microwave-assisted multicomponent methods for the synthesis of imidazoles have been reported [68-71 ]. The irradiation of a 1,2-diketone and aldehyde with ammonium acetate in acetic acid for 5 min at 180 °C in a single-mode reactor provides alkyl-, aryl-, and heteroaryl-substituted imidazoles 39 in excellent yield (Scheme 14) and this method has been used for the rapid and efficient preparation of two biologically active imidazoles, lepidiline B and trifenagrel [68]. 

The hydroxynitrile lyase (HNL)-catalyzed addition of HCN to aldehydes is the most important synthesis of non-racemic cyanohydrins. Since now not only (f )-PaHNL from almonds is available in unlimited amounts, but the recombinant (S)-HNLs from cassava (MeHNL) and rubber tree (HbHNL) are also available in giga units, the large-scale productions of non-racemic cyanohydrins have become possible. The synthetic potential of chiral cyanohydrins for the stereoselective preparation of biologically active compounds has been developed during the last 15 years. 

Condensation of N -substituted hydroxylamines with aldehydes and ketones is widely used in the synthesis of various spin traps and biologically active nitrones (Fig. 2.5) (161-186). 

Optically active aldehydes are important precursors for biologically active compounds, and much effort has been applied to their asymmetric synthesis. Asymmetric hydroformylation has attracted much attention as a potential route to enantiomerically pure aldehyde because this method starts from inexpensive olefins and synthesis gas (CO/H2). Although rhodium-catalyzed hydrogenation has been one of the most important applications of homogeneous catalysis in industry, rhodium-mediated hydroformylation has also been extensively studied as a route to aldehydes. 

An intramolecular cycloaddition also occurred with 3-ylidenepiperazine-2,5-diones such as 124 or 125, obtained by Wittig-Horner-Emmons reaction from phosphonate 121 and aldehydes 122 or 123, respectively. The products of the Diels-Alder reaction are the bridged bicyclo[2.2.2]diazaoctane rings 126 and 127 that have been found in biologically active secondary metabolite such as VM55599 and brevianamide A. The different type of structures employed in this case requires a chemoselective reaction in order to produce the expected products as single diastereoisomers after 20 days (Scheme 18) <2001JOC3984>. 

The addition of doubly deprotonated HYTRA to achiral4 5 as well as to enantiomerically pure aldehydes enables one to obtain non-racemic (3-hydroxycarboxylic acids. Thus, the method provides a practical solution for the stereoselective aldoi addition of a-unsubstituted enolates, a long-standing synthetic problem.7 As opposed to some other chiral acetate reagents,7 both enantiomers of HYTRA are readily available. Furthermore, the chiral auxiliary reagent, 1,1,2-triphenyl-1,2-ethanediol, can be recovered easily. Aldol additions of HYTRA have been used in syntheses of natural products and biological active compounds, and some of those applications are given in Table I. (The chiral center, introduced by a stereoselective aldol addition with HYTRA, is marked by an asterisk.)... 

Substituted amino naphthols were synthesized with reactions of 1-naphthols and the appropriate aldehydes. Some new 2,4-disubstituted-3,4-dihydro-2/f-naphth [i,2-e][i,i]oxazines that are expected to show biological activities were obtained by the ring-closure reactions with these aminonaphthols and various aldehydes. In addition, substituted-1,3-amino-hydroxy compounds, 2, can be used in chiral ligands synthesis. 

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