Carbonyl activation, nucleophilic attack

The most unreactive carboxylic acid derivatives, esters and amides, usually require some form of catalysis to activate the carbonyl to nucleophilic attack. Acid catalysis for amide hydrolysis is quite effective. Since amides are so unreactive toward nucleophilic attack, specific-acid catalysis is most commonly observed. Here, full protonation of the amide carbonyl is necessary to activate the species enough that nucleophilic attack is possible (Figure 10.19 A). With acidic conditions up to about 80% acid (requiring values see Section 5.2.5),... 

The mechanism shown above involves two steps and an anhydride (acyl-enzyme) intermediate. In the first step Zn(II) of the enzyme electrophically activates the substrate carbonyl towards nucleophilic attack by a glutamate residue. Departure of an alkoxyl group (with ester substrates) or an amino group (with peptide substrates) results in the production of an anhydride between the enzyme glutamate residue and the scissile carboxyl group. In the second step the hydrolysis of this anhydride can be catalyzed by the... 

Metal Lewis acid catalyzed reaction is the most studied area in modern carbonyl chemistry [26]. The lone pair of carbonyl oxygen coordinates to the Lewis acid. The coordination lowers both the electron density of carbonyl oxygen and the energy of the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO), the C=0 ti orbital, activating carbonyl towards nucleophilic attack. In general, hard and small Lewis acid is ideal in carbonyl activation because the lone pair of carbonyl oxygen is hard. Thus proton, which is the smallest and hardest Lewis acid, is one of the best for carbonyl activation [27]. 

The amide is activated toward nucleophilic attack by protonation of its carbonyl oxygen The cation produced m this step is stabilized by resonance involving the nitro gen lone pair and is more stable than the intermediate m which the amide nitrogen is protonated... 

FIGURE 27 19 Proposed mechanism of hydrolysis of a peptide catalyzed by carboxypeptidase A The peptide is bound at the active site by an ionic bond between its C terminal ammo acid and the positively charged side chain of arginine 145 Coordination of Zn to oxygen makes the carbon of the carbonyl group more positive and increases the rate of nucleophilic attack by water... 

A related but distinct rhodium-catalyzed methyl acetate carbonylation to acetic anhydride (134) was commercialized by Eastman in 1983. Anhydrous conditions necessary to the Eastman acetic anhydride process require important modifications (24) to the process, including introduction of hydrogen to maintain the active [Rhl2(CO)2] catalyst and addition of lithium cation to activate the alkyl methyl group of methyl acetate toward nucleophilic attack by iodide. 

The effect of conformation on reactivity is intimately associated with the details of the mechanism of a reaction. The examples of Scheme 3.2 illustrate some of the w s in which substituent orientation can affect reactivity. It has been shown that oxidation of cis-A-t-butylcyclohexanol is faster than oxidation of the trans isomer, but the rates of acetylation are in the opposite order. Let us consider the acetylation first. The rate of the reaction will depend on the fiee energy of activation for the rate-determining step. For acetylation, this step involves nucleophilic attack by the hydroxyl group on the acetic anhydride carbonyl... 

G. activates the carbonyl group for nucleophilic attack by oxygen lone-pair electrons from the alcohol. 

The suggested reaction mechanism involves a nucleophilic attack of the imine nitrogen at the activated triple bond, followed by a proton exchange, to give a benzimidazolinium system which, by intramolecular attack at the carbonyl group, leads to an epoxide that ring opens to the observed product. For the ethyl derivative (R = Et) a tub conformation could be established by X-ray crystallographic analysis.33... 

The Mukaiyama aldol reaction refers to Lewis acid-catalyzed aldol addition reactions of silyl enol ethers, silyl ketene acetals, and similar enolate equivalents,48 Silyl enol ethers are not sufficiently nucleophilic to react directly with aldehydes or ketones. However, Lewis acids cause reaction to occur by coordination at the carbonyl oxygen, activating the carbonyl group to nucleophilic attack. 

The previous sections dealt with reactions in which the new carbon-carbon bond is formed by addition of the nucleophile to a carbonyl group. Another important method for alkylation of carbon nucleophiles involves addition to an electrophilic multiple bond. The electrophilic reaction partner is typically an a,(3-unsaturated ketone, aldehyde, or ester, but other electron-withdrawing substituents such as nitro, cyano, or sulfonyl also activate carbon-carbon double and triple bonds to nucleophilic attack. The reaction is called conjugate addition or the Michael reaction. 

After the nucleophilic attack by the hydroxyl function of the active serine on the carbonyl group of the lactone, the formation of the acyl-enzyme unmasks a reactive hydroxybenzyl derivative and then the corresponding QM. The cyclic structure of the inhibitor prevents the QM from rapidly diffusing out of the active center. Substitution of a second nucleophile leads to an irreversible inhibition. The second nucleophile was shown to be a histidine residue in a-chymotrypsin28 and in urokinase.39 Thus, the action of a functionalized dihydrocoumarin results in the cross-linking of two of the most important residues of the protease catalytic triad. 

Protonic acid and Lewis acids can activate carbonyls to facilitate the addition of nucleophile attacks in aqueous media. The Prins reaction, reaction with alkyne, and Friedel-Crafts-type reactions have been discussed in related chapters in detail. 

In this type of reaction the active drug undergoes decomposition following reaction with the solvent present. Usually the solvent is water, but sometimes the reaction may involve pharmaceutical cosolvents such as ethyl alcohol or polyethylene glycol. These solvents can act as nucleophiles, attacking the electropositive centers in drug molecules. The most common solvolysis reactions encountered in pharmaceuticals are those involving labile carbonyl compounds such as esters, lactones, and lactams (Table 1). 

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