Carboxylic acids azide synthesis

Peptide synthesis. In the above-mentioned synthesis of urethanes the carboxylic acid azide may be the intermediate, and this possibility prompted the Japanese chemists to investigate the usefulness of diphcnylphosphoryl azide in peptide synthesis. Indeed the reagent allows coupling of acylamino acids or peptides with amino acid esters or peptide esters in the presence of a base in high yield and with practically no racemiza-tion. The new method is compatible with various functional groups. 

Carboxylic acid azides give rise to three different reactions under different conditions. Azide coupling (equation 9) was the earliest method in peptide synthesis and is still one of the most important in fragment condensation and preparation of cyclic peptides due to its almost complete lack of racemization. At elevated temperatures a frequent side reaction is the Curtius rearrangement. Trapping of the intermediate isocyanate with amines (equation 10) gives urea derivatives and with carboxylic acids rearranged amides are obtained (equation 11). ... 

Via intermediates Subst. carboxylic acid amides from carboxylic acid hydrazides via carboxylic acid azides Peptide synthesis... 

Also on the commercial scale, carboxylic acid azides are produced according to the traditional synthesis methods described below. Reacting via Curtius rearrangement,they serve as precursors for isocyanates, which represent an important and frequently used element for the production of tetrazolinone mentioned under Section 2.3.1.2 and for aU other addition or hydrolysis reactions described in the literature. 

The procedure described is essentially that of Shioiri and Yamada. Diphenyl phosphorazidate is a useful and versatile reagent in organic synthesis. It has been used for racemlzatlon-free peptide syntheses, thiol ester synthesis, a modified Curtius reaction, an esterification of a-substituted carboxylic acld, formation of diketoplperazines, alkyl azide synthesis, phosphorylation of alcohols and amines,and polymerization of amino acids and peptides. - Furthermore, diphenyl phosphorazidate acts as a nitrene source and as a 1,3-dipole.An example in the ring contraction of cyclic ketones to form cycloalkanecarboxylic acids is presented in the next procedure, this volume. 

Intramolecular cycloaddition between an azide and an unsaturated ester (see 300) was the key step in the synthesis of triazole carboxylic acids 302 a, b, prospective anionic sugar mimics (Eq. 33) [79]. 

A total synthesis of O-methylarnottianamide (223) was performed by Falck et al. (177) (Scheme 34). The regio- and stereospecific cycloaddition of the 2,4-dinitrophenyl (DNP) salt of 6,7-methylenedioxyisoquinoline (218) with a-methoxystyrene 219 resulted in 220. Compound 220 was hydrolyzed, then aromatized, and the resultant aldehyde was oxidized to carboxylic acid 221. Curtius rearrangement of the appropriate azide yielded urethane 222, which... 

M Crisma, V Moretto, G Valle, F Formaggio, C Toniolo. First characterization at atomic resolution of the C-activating groups in a peptide synthesis acid chloride, acid azide and carboxylic-carboxylic mixed anhydride. Int J Pept Prot Res 42, 378, 1993. 

The usual procedure of preparing acid azides, which involves treating an acid chloride with sodium azide,8,9 suffers from the disadvantage that it is often difficult to obtain pure acid chlorides in good yields from acids which either decompose or undergo isomerization in the presence of mineral acids.7 Synthesis of the azide by way of the ester and hydrazide10 has been used to circumvent this difficulty but is much less convenient. The present procedure permits ready formation of acid azides in excellent yields from mixed carboxylic-carbonic anhydrides and sodium azide under very mild conditions. 

The synthesis of a triptan with a chiral side chain begins by reduction of the carboxylic acid in chiral 4-nitrophenylalanine (15-1). The two-step procedure involves conversion of the acid to its ester by the acid chloride by successive reaction with thionyl chloride and then methanol. Treatment of the ester with sodium borohy-dride then afford the alanilol (15-2). Reaction of this last intermediate with phosgene closes the ring to afford the oxazolidone (15-3) the nitro group is then reduced to the aniline (15-4). The newly obtained amine is then converted to the hydrazine (15-5). Reaction of this product with the acetal from 3-chloropropionaldehyde followed by treatment of the hydrazone with acid affords the indole (15-6). The terminal halogen on the side chain is then replaced by an amine by successive displacement by means of sodium azide followed by catalytic reduction of the azide. The newly formed amine is then methylated by reductive alkylation with formaldehyde in the presence of sodium cyanoborohydride to afford zolmitriptan (15-7) [15]. 

Curtius rearrangement of the heteroaroyl azides, obtained from the reaction of the carboxylic acid chlorides with sodium azide, provides a route to the amino-pyrroles and -indoles (e.g. B-70MI30504, B-77MI30506, 78CPB1054), which, because of the ease of synthesis of the carboxylic acids, is frequently preferable to reduction of the nitro compounds. 

Unfortunately, A-(9-fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl)aziridine-2-carboxylic acid cannot be used in peptide synthesis, since N-deprotection of the respective peptides with secondary amines leads to oxazoline or dehydroamino acid side products. Similarly, N-(tert-butoxy-carbonyl)aziridine-2-carboxylic acid is inappropriate due to the instability of the aziridine moiety to TFA treatment. Attempts to convert A-tritylaziridine-2-carboxylic acid into homogenous and stable active esters as useful intermediates in peptide synthesis leads to positive results only in the case of the pentafluorophenyl ester. 47 Consequently, this active ester seems to be the method of choice for acylating peptides. The related Abhydroxysuc-cinimide and A-3-hydroxy-4-oxo-3,4-dihydro-l,2,3-benzotriazine ester could not be isolated in pure form and have therefore been used as crude products. 47 Access to 2-carbonylazir-idine peptides is also possible by carbodiimide-mediated coupling. Additionally, alkylamides of A-tritylaziridine-2-carboxylic acid are prepared by the azide method,1 5 yet this method fails in peptide coupling steps. 85 ... 

Peptides. A new amide or peptide synthesis is based on the formation of iminophosphoranes, R N=PR3, from the reaction of azides with a tertiary phosphine. These phosphoranes react with carboxylic acids to form amides.1 Ethyl diphenylphosphinite is more useful than a triarylphosphine because the by-product is hydrolyzed to diphenylphosphinic acid, which can be readily removed. The iminophosphorane 2, derived from 1 and ethyl azidoacetate, reacts with CboGly-L-Phe-OH to give optically pure 3 in 70% yield.2... 

One-pot synthesis of aziridinyl ketones including the initial dipolar addition of azides to the ethylene bond with subsequent elimination of the nitrogen by photolysis is also possible [55, 56]. For example, in the case of azidocarboxylic acid ethyl ester 35,2-oxo-7-azabicyclo[4.1.0]heptane-7-carboxylic acid ethyl ester 37 was synthesized via the formation of the cycloadduct 36 [55] (Scheme 1.10). 

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