Acid, cholic

Occasionally the glycocholic acid does not crystallise from the acidified bile until several days have elapsed. Frequent shaking has an accelerating effect. With summer bile the experiment often fails because the components of such bile crystallise with more difficulty. As far as experience goes, this has never been the case in winter. 

In this condition it is transferred to a conical flask into which absolute alcohol (a volume equivalent to two-thirds of the weight of 

For further purification the crystallised acid is boiled for a quarter of an hour under reflux with methylated spirit (one part by volume of spirit for each part by weight of acid), left over night without filtering, then collected again at the pump, washed with alcohol, and finally the almost colourless material is recrystallised from spirit, in which it is dissolved by boiling under reflux. The pure cholic acid separates on cooling in the form of transparent tetrahedral crystals. Melting point 196°. A further quantity of pure substance can be obtained from the mother liquor by concentration. If the acid, partially purified as described, is extracted in a thimble with ethyl acetate, a very fine preparation is obtained. The yield of pure acid amounts to fully 50 g. 

The methyl ester of the acid can very conveniently be prepared by esterifying in ten parts of methyl alcohol with hydrogen chloride. After boiling for quite a short time, the cold solution, saturated with hydrogen chloride, is poured into a large volume of dilute sodium carbonate solution, and the ester, which is precipitated in solid form, is dried and recrystallised from a little dilute methyl alcohol. Other compounds which may suitably be prepared are dehydrocholic add, cholatrienic add, and cholanic add. 

Desoxycholic Acid, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol.—The first alcoholic filtrate obtained during the crystallisation of the cholic acid (see above) is made strongly alkaline to phenolphthalein paper with 2 N-sodium hydroxide solution and concentrated to a syrupy consistency in a porcelain basin on the water bath. The syrup is taken up in 250 c.c. of water, transferred to a separating funnel, cooled, covered 

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Mammalian bile contains sodium salts of conjugated bile acids, e.g. glycocholic acid and taurocholic acid, in which cholic acid is combined (amide linkage) with glycine and taurine respectively. 

CJH4O5, H02CCH(0H)C02H. Colourless crystals with IH O lost at 60 C. M.p. IhO C (decomp.). Prepared by heating dinitrotartaric acid in aqueous alcohol, taurine, aminoethylsulpbonic acid, C2H7NO3S, NHj CHj CH SOjH. Crystallizes in columns, decomposing at 317 C. In combination with cholic acid it forms one of the bile acids. It is formed in the liver from cysteine. 

Decahn ring systems appear as structural units m a large number of naturally occur ring substances particularly the steroids Cholic acid for example a steroid present m bile that promotes digestion incorporates as decahn and trans decahn units into a rather complex tetracyclic structure... 

Steroids are another class of natural products with multiple chirality centers One such compound is cholic acid which can be obtained from bile Its structural formula IS given m Figure 7 12 Cholic acid has 11 chirality centers and so a total (including cholic acid) of 2" or 2048 stereoisomers have this constitution Of these 2048 stereoiso mers how many are diastereomers of cholic acid s Remember Diastereomers are stereoisomers that are not enantiomers and any object can have only one mirror image Therefore of the 2048 stereoisomers one is cholic acid one is its enantiomer and the other 2046 are diastereomers of cholic acid Only a small fraction of these compounds are known and (+) cholic acid is the only one ever isolated from natural sources... 

A significant fraction of the body s cholesterol is used to form bile acids Oxidation m the liver removes a portion of the CsHi7 side chain and additional hydroxyl groups are intro duced at various positions on the steroid nucleus Cholic acid is the most abundant of the bile acids In the form of certain amide derivatives called bile salts, of which sodium tau rocholate is one example bile acids act as emulsifying agents to aid the digestion of fats... 

The structure of cholic acid helps us understand how bile salts such as sodium tauro cholate promote the transport of lipids through a water rich environment The bot tom face of the molecule bears all of the polar groups and the top face is exclusively hydrocarbon like Bile salts emulsify fats by forming micelles m which the fats are on the inside and the bile salts are on the outside The hydrophobic face of the bile salt associates with the fat that is inside the micelle the hydrophilic face is m contact with water on the outside... 

As we have seen in this chapter steroids have a number of functions in human physiology Cholesterol is a component part of cell mem branes and is found in large amounts in the brain Derivatives of cholic acid assist the digestion of fats in the small intestine Cortisone and its derivatives are involved in maintaining the electrolyte balance in body fluids The sex hormones responsible for mascu line and feminine characteristics as well as numerous aspects of pregnancy from conception to birth are steroids... 

FIGURE 7.12 Cholic acid. Its 11 chirality centers are those carbons at which stereochemistry is indicated in the structural drawing at the left. The molecular model at the right more clearly shows the overall shape of the molecule. 

Bile acids, which exist mainly as bile salts, are polar carboxylic acid derivatives of cholesterol that are important in the digestion of food, especially the solubilization of ingested fats. The Na and salts of glycocholic acid and tauro-cholic acid are the principal bile salts (Ligure 25.41). Glycocholate and tauro-cholate are conjugates of cholic acid with glycine and taurine, respectively. 

FIGURE 25.41 Cholic acid, a bile salt, is synthesized from cholesterol via 7o -hydroxy-cholesterol. Conjugation with taurine or glycine produces taurocholic acid and glycocholic acid, respectively. Taurocholate and glycocholate are freely water-soluble and are highly effective detergents. 

The following mode) is that of cholic acid, a constituent of human bile. Locate the three hydroxyl groups, and identify each as axial or equatorial. Is cholic acid an A-B trans steroid or an A-B cis steroid ... 

Derivatives Acetylated methyl esters are the most suitable derivatives (e.g., deoxycholic acid and cholic acid). 

Loss of two CD3SiOH groups from deuterated TMS derivative (e.g., cholic acid)... 

CYP8A1 is the complementary enzyme to CYP5 in that it synthesizes prostacyclin in the arachidonic acid cascade. CYP8B1 catalyzes the steroid 12-alpha hydroxylation in the cholic acid biosynthesis. 

Galls tone-solubilizing (gallstone-dissolving) drugs, such as ursodiol (Actigall), suppress die manufacture of cholesterol and cholic acid by die liver. The suppression of die manufacture of cholesterol and cholic add may ultimately result in a decrease in die size of radiolucent gallstones. 

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