Condensation Strecker

The carboxyl terminated ACPA, 4,4 -azobis-(4-cya-nopentanoic acid), turned out to be a suitable reagent in condensation reactions. This compound can be prepared by Strecker s synthesis from levulinic acid following the method of Haines and Waters [12]. Regarding the formation of polymeric azo initiators, Matsakuwa et al. [13] reported on the condensation of ACPA with various diols and diamines in the presence of a condensation agent, I-methyl-2-chlorpyridinium iodide, and a cata-... 

Straight-chain alkane, 80 Strecker synthesis, 972 Structure, condensed, 22 electron-dot, 9 Kekule, 9 Lewis, 9 line-bond, 9 skeletal, 23... 

Like the Strecker synthesis, the Ugi reaction also involves a nucleophilic addition to an imine as the crucial step in which the stereogenic center of an a-amino acid derivative is formed4. The Ugi reaction, also denoted as a four-component condensation (A), is related to the older Passerini reaction5 (B) in an analogous fashion as the Strecker synthesis is to cyanohydrin formation. In both the Ugi and the Passerini reaction, an isocyanide takes the role of cyanide. 

Amino acid formation in the Urey-Miller experiment and almost certainly in the prebiotic environment is via the Stecker synthesis shown in Figure 8.3. This reaction mechanism shows that the amino acids were not formed in the discharge itself but by reactions in the condensed water reservoir. Both HCN and HCO are formed from the bond-breaking reactions of N2 and H2O in a plasma, which then react with NH3 in solution. The C=0 group in formaldehyde or other aldehydes is replaced by to form NH and this undergoes a reaction with HCN to form the cyano amino compound that hydrates to the acid. The Strecker synthesis does not provide stereo-control over the carbon centre and must result in racemic mixtures of amino acids. There is no room for homochirality in this pathway. 

In addition to this, the simplest method of synthesising a-amino-acids (a method which is less satisfactory for the preparation of higher members of the series), there are two other processes, both starting from aldehydes. Strecker obtained the nitrile of the amino-acid, Chap. V. 7, p. 229, by addition of ammonium cyanide to the next lower aldehyde, and Erlenmeyer jun. condensed hippuric acid with the aldehyde containing two carbon atoms less than the required amino-acid. 

Serine has been prepared by the Strecker method from glycol-aldehyde 1 and from ethoxyacetaldehyde,2 3 by the condensation of ethyl formate with ethyl hippurate followed by reduction and hydrolysis,4 5 from the reaction product of chloromethyl ether with ethyl sodium phthalimidomalonate,6 and by amination of a-bromo-/3-methoxypropionic acid with subsequent demethyla-tion.7... 

It has been found that AAs do not react with 3,4-disubstituted o-benzo-quinones in the expected Strecker degradation reaction instead, a decar-boxylative condensation reaction afforded the corresponding benzoxazoles. A mechanistic explanation has been advanced for this transformation. It should be mentioned, however, that other quinones or diones did not react in the described manner (78JOC509). 

First published in 1850 [1], the Strecker reaction (Scheme 21) is a convenient tool for the synthesis of a-amino acids. Originally it was reported as a condensation of an aldehyde, ammonia and a cyanide source in buffered aqueous medium to form an a-amino nitrile, which is then hydrolysed to an a-amino acid [47, 48]. 

Scheme 22 The model Strecker condensation and the side reaction of cyanohydrin formation [48, 53]...

Examples of the condensation of amides with aldehydes were also known at this time. Roth and Schuster, working in Strecker s laboratory, had prepared benzylidene diacetamide and anisylidene diacetamide by heating the aldehydes with acetamide. Von Richter in 1872 reported that Tawildarow obtained ethylidene diacetamide by heating acetaldehyde and acetamide, and Nencki obtained ethylidene dibenzamide by carrying out a similar reaction in the presence of hydrochloric acid. 

The synthetic strategy of preparing pyrazines by condensation of 2-keto aldoximes with a-amino nitriles is well represented by Taylor s pteridine synthesis, in which a variety of 2-amino-3-cyanopyrazine 1-oxides have been prepared by using aminomalononitrile <2002TL6747> as the amino nitriles. In the same fashion, some other a-amino nitriles, which are often the Strecker synthesis products, are converted into 2-aminopyrazine 1-oxides 160 (Scheme 44). The condensations are realized by treatment with iV-methylmorpholine <1993JOC7542>, and... 

It is of course surprising that amino acids can be obtained via the Strecker synthesis, purines from the condensation of HCN, pyrimidines from the reaction of cyanoacetilene with urea, and sugars from the autocatalytic condensation of formaldehyde. The synthesis of chemical constiments of contemporary organisms by non-enzymatic processes under laboratory conditions does not necessarily imply that they were either essential for the origin of life or available in the primitive environment. However, the significance of prebiotic simulation experiments is... 

Several mechanisms have been proposed for the formation of pyrazines in food flavours [18, 23, 25], but the major route is from a-aminoketones, which are products of the condensation of a dicarbonyl with an amino compound via Strecker degradation (Scheme 12.3). Self-condensation of the aminoketones, or condensation with other aminoketones, affords a dihydropyrazine that is oxidised to the pyrazine. 

Nucleophilic phosphorus species are employed in the synthesis of amino acid analogues by condensation with imine derivatives, in parallel with the classical Strecker reaction. A variety of methods are available, depending on the selection of the phosphorus reagents and the imine precursors. 

A-Acyliminium ions are more reactive partners for condensation reactions than the standard Strecker intermediate 24 they are not generally isolable, but must be generated in situ and trapped to give the stable product. However, with proper choice of acyl group, they provide a-amidophosphorus analogues that are appropriately protected for peptide synthesis. 

The reaction of ketones with thiosemicarbazide in the presence of sodium cyanide affords Strecker-type condensation products (806) which can be converted into 3-thioxo-l,6-... 

A large number of catalytic asymmetric MCR are based on deoxo-bisubstitution reactions of carbonyl compounds such as the Mannich and Strecker reactions in which an oxo-group is displaced by two new cr-bonds, one to a nitrogen atom and one to a carbon atom. Other examples of deoxo-bisubstitutions include tandem processes that involve an initial Knoevenagel condensation followed by either a nucleophilic or a cycloaddition. These processes are characterized by the conversion of a C O-K-bond into two new C-C-cr-bonds and have been termed carba-acetalizations. 

Many desirable meat flavor volatiles are synthesized by heating water-soluble precursors such as amino acids and carbohydrates. These latter constituents interact to form intermediates which are converted to meat flavor compounds by oxidation, decarboxylation, condensation and cyclization. 0-, N-, and S-heterocyclics including furans, furanones, pyrazines, thiophenes, thiazoles, thiazolines and cyclic polysulfides contribute significantly to the overall desirable aroma impression of meat. The Maillard reaction, including formation of Strecker aldehydes, hydrogen sulfide and ammonia, is important in the mechanism of formation of these compounds. 

Probably the most important reactant in the formation of volatile meat flavor compounds is hydrogen sulfide. It can be formed by several pathways during meat cookery, but one mechanism is Strecker degradation of cysteine in the presence of a diketone as established by Kobayashi and Fujimaki (29). The cysteine condenses with the diketone and the product in turn decarboxylates to amino carbonyl compounds that can be degraded to hydrogen sulfide, ammonia and acetaldehyde. These become very reactive volatiles for the formation of many flavor compounds in meat and other foods. 

Several mechanisms have been reported for pyrazine formation by Maillard reactions (21,52,53). The carbon skeletons of pyrazines come from a-dicarbonyl (Strecker) compounds which can react with ammonia to produce ot-amino ketones as described by Flament, et al. (54) which condense by dehydration and oxidize to pyrazines (Figure 6), or the dicarbonyl compounds can initiate Strecker degradation of amino acids to form ot-amino ketones which are hydrolyzed to carbonyl amines, condensed and are oxidized to substituted... 

Thus, IQ may arise from creatinine, 2-methylpyridine and formaldehyde or a related Schiff base, formed from glycine through Strecker degradation. The initial step may be a Mannich reaction or an aldol condensation. By analogy MelQ may arise from creatinine, alanine and 2-methylpyridine, and MelQx from creatinine, glycine and 2,5-dimethylpyrazine according to the scheme in Figure 1. 

The question of the fate of the "Strecker" aldehydes requires an answer. By converting the amino acid phenylalanine to yield aroma compounds, phenyl acetaldehyde is liberated. Because of its phenyl ring it is a good detector compound. We were able to establish some of its reaction products. For example, we have identified, among others, phenylethylpyrazine, phenylfuran, phenylethylpyrrole and phenylpyri-dine. We assume that aldol condensations are responsible for the formation of these compounds. Figure 5 illustrates our assumption.We have identified several compounds the structures of which make probable an aldol condensation (3-(2 -furyl)-2-phenyl-2-propenal, phenyl hydroxyketones) likely. This assumption is supported by the identification of pyrazines with up to 5 carbon atom side chains in other experiments. 

The identification of 49 pyrazines in heated beef and other meats has been extensively revieved (32, 43). Several mechanisms have been proposed for pyrazine formation by the Maillard reaction. Dlcarbonyl compounds can initiate Strecker degradation of amino acids to yield ot-amino ketones, vhich in turn can undergo condensations and oxidizations to form substituted pyrazines (13). 

Pyrazines are formed from many amino acid-sugar systems by the condensation of a-diketones arising from sugar fragmentation with amino acids via Strecker degradation and ammonia or amino acids. 

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