Carboxylic acids chain-elongating synthesis

In the synthesis of fatty acids the acetyl irnits are condensed and then are reduced to form straight hydrocarbon chains. In the oxo-acid chain elongation mechanism, the acetyl unit is introduced but is later decarboxylated. Tlius, the chain is increased in length by one carbon atom at a time. These two mechanisms account for a great deal of the biosynthesis by chain extension. However, there are other variations. For example, glycine (a carboxylated methylamine), under the influence of pyridoxal phosphate and with accompanying decarboxylation, condenses with succinyl-CoA (Eq. 14-32) to extend the carbon chain and at the same time to introduce an amino group. Likewise, serine (a carboxylated ethanolamine) condenses with... 

The Kolbe synthesis of nitriles is an important method for the elongation of an alkyl chain by one carbon center (see also the Arndt-Eistert synthesis). The nitrile 2 can for example easily be converted to the corresponding carboxylic acid by hydrolysis. 

The fatty acid synthesis pathway can be seen to occur in two parts. An initial priming stage in which acetyl-CoA is converted to malonyl-CoA by a carboxylation reaction (Figure 6.9) is followed by a series of reactions which occur on a multi-enzyme complex (MEC), which achieves chain elongation forming C16 palmitoyl-CoA. The whole process occurs in the cytosol. 

Cleavage of the silyl protecting groups under acidic conditions, followed by exposure to MeS03H. results in ketalization of 26 to the pyran-lactol 27 (Figure 8) [20]. To complete the synthesis of the CP compounds, the primary alcohol has to be oxidized to the carboxylic acid and the carboxylic acid side chain has to be elongated by means of an Arndt-Eistert reaction. 

The de novo synthesis of fatty acids in the mammary gland utilizes mainly acetate and some (3-hydroxybutyrate. These precursors arise from the microbial fermentation of cellulose and related materials in the rumen. Once in the mammary gland, acetate is activated to acetyl-CoA. The mechanism of fatty acid synthesis essentially involves the carboxylation of acetyl-CoA to malonyl-CoA, which is then used in a step-wise chain elongation process. This leads to a series of short-chain and medium-chain length fatty acids, which differ by two CH2 groups (e.g., 4 0, 6 0, 8 0, etc.) (Hawke and Taylor, 1995). These are straight-chain, even-numbered carbon fatty acids. However, if a precursor such as propionate, valerate or isobutyrate, rather than acetate, is used, branched-chain or odd-numbered carbon fatty acids are synthesised (Jenkins, 1993 see Chapter 2). 

Synthetic steps for the attachment of the first amino acid may differ from those of chain elongation. The subsequent methods are a commonly used for the synthesis of peptides with C-terminal carboxylic acids or amides. 

Polyketide and fatty acid biosyntheses begin with condensation of the coenzyme A thioester of a short-chain carboxylic acid starter unit such as acetate or propionate with the coenzyme A thioester of a dicarboxylic acid extender unit such as malonate or methyl malonate. The driving force for the condensation is provided by the decarboxylation of the extender unit. In the case of fetty acid synthesis, the resulting -carbonyl is completely reduced to a methylene however, during the synthesis of complex poly-ketides, the -carbonyl may be left untouched or variably reduced to alcohol, olefinic, or methylene functionalities depending on the position that the extender unit will occupy in the final product. This cycle is repeated, and the number of elongation cycles is a characteristic of the enzyme catalyst. In polyketide biosynthesis, the full-length polyketide chain cyclizes in a specific manner, and is tailored by the action of additional enzymes in the pathway. 

In addition to chain elongation, fatty adds are modified by the introduction of double bonds (desaturation). Enzymes, called desaturases, catalyze the synthesis of imsaturated fatty adds. They can use saturated or partially unsaturated fatty acids as substrates. A -Desaturasc, for example, catalyzes the introduction of a double bond between carbons 9 and 10 of a fatty acid (counting from the carboxylic acid end). Thrxjc examples of reactions of A-desaturases are shown in Figure 9.95. 

Lactones are normally stable compounds, which have found ample application as synthetic intermediates, and, quite recently, have been detected as the central structural unit in physiologically active natural products like obaflorin (123) and lipstatin (124). Characteristic applications of 3-lactones in synthesis are the stereospecific CO2 elimination to form di- and tri-substituted alkenes (e.g. from 125 equation 40) or Grignard addition to the carbonyl group e.g. equation 41). Particularly useful is the formation of 3-lactone enolates (126), which react with a variety of electrophiles (EX) wiA high stereocontrol (equation 42). Organocuprates may be used in chain elongations to form 3-branched carboxylic acids (equation 43). ... 

The Wolff rearrangement is the key step of the Arndt-Eistert synthesis, which is a method for homologation or chain elongation of carboxylic acids. The multistep sequence may be summarized as follows ... 

To obtain polyunsaturated fatty acids, the double bonds are introduced by a stepwise process. A fundamental difference exists between mammals and plants. In the former, oleic acid synthesis is possible, and, also, additional double bonds can be inserted towards the carboxyl end of the fatty acid molecule. For example, y-hnolenic acid can be formed from the essential fatty acid linoleic acid and, also, arachidonic acid (Fig. 3.5) can be formed by chain elongation of y-linolenic acid. In a diet deficient in linoleic acid, oleic acid is dehydrogenated to isolinoleic acid and its derivatives (Fig. 3.5), but none of these acquire the physiological function of an essential acid such as linoleic acid. 

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