Carbohydrates Kiliani-Fischer synthesis

Methods have been developed both to lengthen the carbon chain in a carbohydrate (Kiliani—Fischer synthesis) and to shorten it (Ruff degradation). 

Kiliani-Fischer synthesis (Section 25.20) A synthetic method for carbohydrate chain extension. The new carbon-carbon bond is formed by converting an aldose to its cyanohydrin. Reduction of the cyano group to an aldehyde function completes the synthesis. 

Much of the chemistry of monosaccharides is the familiar chemistry of alcohols and aldehydes/ketones. Thus, the hydroxyl groups of carbohydrates form esters and ethers. The carbonyl group of a monosaccharide can be reduced with NaBH4 to form an alditol, oxidized with aqueous Br2 to form an aldonic acid, oxidized with HNO3 to form an aldaric acid, oxidized enzymatically to form a uronic acid, or treated with an alcohol in the presence of acid to form a glycoside. Monosaccharides can also be chain-lengthened by the multistep Kiliani-Fischer synthesis and can be chain-shortened by the Wohl degradation. 

Kiliani-Fischer synthesis is a means of lengthening the carbon backbone of a carbohydrate. The process begins with the reaction of hydrogen cyanide (HCN) with an aldehyde to produce a cyanohydrin. Treatment of the cyanohydrin with barium hydroxide followed by acidification yields an aldose with an additional carbon atom, as shown in Figure 16-16. The formation of the cyanohydrin creates a new chiral center as a racemic mixture. 

Two common procedures in carbohydrate chemistry result in adding or removing one carbon atom from the skeleton of an aldose. The Wohl degradation shortens an aldose chain by one carbon, whereas the Kiliani-Fischer synthesis lengthens it by one. Both reactions involve cyanohydrins as intermediates. Recall from Section 21.9 that cyanohydrins are formed from aldehydes by addition of the elements of HCN. Cyanohydrins can also be re converted to carbonyl compounds by treatment with base. 

The Kiliani-Fischer synthesis lengthens a carbohydrate chain hy adding one carhon to the aldehyde end of an aldose, thus forming a new stereogenic center at C2 of the product. The product consists of epimers that differ only in their configuration about the one new stereogenic center. For example, the Kiliani-Fischer synthesis converts D-arabinose into a mixture of D-glucose and D-mannose. 

Both Fischer projections and the Kiliani-Fischer synthesis are named after Emil Fischer, a noted chemist of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1902 for his work in carbohydrate chemistry. Fischer s most elegant work is the subject of Section 27.11. 

About one hundred years ago, the stereoselective addition of cyanide to a chiral carbonyl compound, the Kiliani-Fischer synthesis of carbohydrates, was proclaimed by Emil Fischer to be the first definitive evidence that further synthesis with asymmetric systems proceeds in an asymmetric manner [5]. By the mid-twentieth century, enough experimental data had accumulated that attempts to rationalize the selectivity of such additions could be made. The most useful of these was made by Cram in 1952 (Figure 4.2a, [2]). In this model. Cram proposed that coordination of... 

Other reactions of carbohydrates include those of alcohols, carboxylic acids, and their derivatives. Alkylation of carbohydrate hydroxyl groups leads to ethers. Acylation of their hydroxyl groups produces esters. Alkylation and acylation reactions are sometimes used to protect carbohydrate hydroxyl groups from reaction while a transformation occurs elsewhere. Hydrolysis reactions are involved in converting ester and lactone derivatives of carbohydrates back to their polyhydroxy form. Enolization of aldehydes and ketones leads to epimerization and interconversion of aldoses and ketoses. Addition reactions of aldehydes and ketones are useful, too, such as the addition of ammonia derivatives in osazone formation, and of cyanide in the Kiliani-Fischer synthesis. Hydrolysis of nitriles from the Kiliani-Fischer synthesis leads to carboxylic acids. 

The addition of cyanide to the aldehydic carbon of polyhydroxyaldehydes (see Carbohydrates, Chapter 11, and the Kiliani-Fischer synthesis) and simple aldehydes... 

Kiliani-Fischer synthesis— Labeled carbohydrate derivatives s. 11, 732 Carboxylic acid esters from aldehydes GHO GH2GOOR... 

Among the classic methods for the extension of the aldose chain by one carbon atom from the reducing end [9J, the Kiliani-Fischer cyanohydrin synthesis [10] is a milestone in carbohydrate chemistry. However after 110 years from discovery and numerous applications [11], including the preparation of carbon and hydrogen isotopically labeled compounds for mechanistic and structural studies [12], there are still several drawbacks that make the method impractical. These are the low and variable degree of selectivity and the harsh reaction conditions that are required to reveal the aldose from either the aldonic acid or directly from the cyanohydrin. Synthetic applications that have appeared in recent times confirmed these limitations. For instance, a quite low selectivity was registered [13] in the addition of the cyanide ion to the D-ga/acfo-hexodialdo-l,5-pyranose derivative 1... 

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