Carboxylic acids, functional derivatives Acid anhydrides, Amides, carbonic

When acid derivative 2 reacts with sulfuric acid, the oxygen atom is the base and the conjugate acid product of this acid-base reaction is oxocarbenium ion 3, which is resonance stabilized. When 2 is an acid chloride, anhydride, ester, or amide, a heteroatom is attached to the positive carbon in 3. As in Chapter 18 (Section 18.1), the acid-base reaction of the carbonyl unit in 2 to give 3 facilitates reactions with nucleophiles. The reaction of intermediate 3 with a nucleophile ( Y) gives tetrahedral intermediate 4 contrary to acyl addition, reaction 4 contains an X group that can function as a leaving group. Loss of X leads to the final product of this reaction 5. If the nucleophile ( Y) is hydroxide, compormd 5 is the carboxylic acid (X = OH). If the nucleophile Y is an alcohol, the product 5 is an ester, and if Y is an amine, the product 5 is an amide. This first reaction is therefore the acid-catalyzed acyl substitution reaction of acid derivatives. 

The process of substitution undertaken on carboxylic acids and the derivatives of carboxylic acids (anhydrides, acid halides, esters, amides, and nitriles) generally involves a series of replacement processes. Thus, individually, substitution may involve replacement of (a) the proton attached to oxygen of the -OH group (i.e., ionization of the acid) (b) the hydroxyl (-OH) portion of the carboxylic acid (or derivative) (e.g., esterification) (c) the carbonyl oxygen and the hydroxyl (-OH) (e.g., orthoester formation, vide infra) (d) the entire carboxylic acid functionality (e.g., the Hunsdiecker reaction, already discussed Scheme 9.101) and the decarboxylation of orotic acid (as orotidine monophosphate) to uracil (as uridine monophosphate)—catalyzed by the enzyme orotidine monophosphate decarboxylase (Scheme 9.115) or (e) the protons (if any) on the carbon to which the carboxylic acid functional group is attached (e.g., the Dieckman cycUzation, already discussed earlier, c Equation 9.91). Indeed, processes already discussed (i.e., reduction and oxidation) have also accomplished some of these ends. Some additional substitutions for the carboxylic acid group itself are presented in Table 9.6, while other substitutions for derivatives of carboxylic acids are shown in Tables 9.7-9.10 and discussed subsequently. 

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