Carboxylate-amide base systems

One of the most important characteristics of IL is its wide temperature range for the liquid phase with no vapor pressure, so next we tested the lipase-catalyzed reaction under reduced pressure. It is known that usual methyl esters are not suitable for lipase-catalyzed transesterification as acyl donors because reverse reaction with produced methanol takes place. However, we can avoid such difficulty when the reaction is carried out under reduced pressure even if methyl esters are used as the acyl donor, because the produced methanol is removed immediately from the reaction mixture and thus the reaction equilibrium goes through to produce the desired product. To realize this idea, proper choice of the acyl donor ester was very important. The desired reaction was accomplished using methyl phenylth-ioacetate as acyl donor. Various methyl esters can also be used as acyl donor for these reactions methyl nonanoate was also recommended and efficient optical resolution was accomplished. Using our system, we demonstrated the completely recyclable use of lipase. The transesterification took place smoothly under reduced pressure at 10 Torr at 40°C when 0.5 equivalent of methyl phenylthioacetate was used as acyl donor, and we were able to obtain this compound in optically pure form. Five repetitions of this process showed no drop in the reaction rate (Fig. 4). Recently Kato reported nice additional examples of lipase-catalyzed reaction based on the same idea that CAL-B-catalyzed esterification or amidation of carboxylic acid was accomplished under reduced pressure conditions. ... 

More powerful directing groups such as those based on amides and sulphonamides are successful with pyridines as with carboxylic rings, and will not be discussed separately. The enhanced acidity of pyridine ring protons makes the simple carboxylate substituent an ideal director of lithiation in pyridine systems . The pyridinecarboxylic acids 232-234 are deprotonated with BuLi and then lithiated with an excess of LiTMP all the substitution patterns are lithiated nicotinic acid 233 is lithiated in the 4-position (Scheme 113). The method provides a valuable way of introducing substituents into the picolinic, nicotinic and isonicotinic acid series. 

A more recent development has been the synthesis of bisamidopyrrolylmethane based anion receptor systems (Figure 19).15 These receptors might be regarded as containing half a calix[4]pyrrole combined with die 2-amido appendages in common with the pyrrolic amide cleft. Compounds 19 and 20 were synthesized by reaction of diethyl-5,5 -methylenebis(4-ethyl-3-methyl-2-pyrrole) carboxylate with aniline or n-butylamine in the presence of trimethylaluminium in dry dichloromethane at 35°C in 40 and 43% respective yields. 

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