Corrin reactions

A major trend in organic synthesis, however, is the move towards complex systems. It may happen that one needs to combine a steroid and a sugar molecule, a porphyrin and a carotenoid, a penicillin and a peptide. Also the specialists in a field have developed reactions and concepts that may, with or without modifications, be applied in other fields. If one needs to protect an amino group in a steroid, it is advisable not only to search the steroid literature but also to look into publications on peptide synthesis. In the synthesis of corrin chromophores with chiral centres, special knowledge of steroid, porphyrin, and alkaloid chemistry has been very helpful (R.B. Woodward, 1967 A. Eschenmoser, 1970). 

Introduction of the cobalt atom into the corrin ring is preceeded by conversion of hydrogenobyrinic acid to the diamide (34). The resultant cobalt(II) complex (35) is reduced to the cobalt(I) complex (36) prior to adenosylation to adenosylcobyrinic acid i7,i -diamide (37). Four of the six remaining carboxyhc acids are converted to primary amides (adenosylcobyric acid) (38) and the other amidated with (R)-l-amino-2-propanol to provide adenosylcobinamide (39). Completion of the nucleotide loop involves conversion to the monophosphate followed by reaction with guanosyl triphosphate to give diphosphate (40). Reaction with a-ribazole 5 -phosphate, derived biosyntheticaHy in several steps from riboflavin, and dephosphorylation completes the synthesis. 

Scheme 1 outlines the retrosynthetic analysis of the Woodward-Eschenmoser A-B variant of the vitamin B12 (1) synthesis. The analysis begins with cobyric acid (4) because it was demonstrated in 1960 that this compound can be smoothly converted to vitamin B12.5 In two exploratory corrin model syntheses to both approaches to the synthesis of cobyric acid,6 the ability of secocorrinoid structures (e. g. 5) to bind metal atoms was found to be central to the success of the macrocyclization reaction to give intact corrinoid structures. In the Woodward-Eschenmoser synthesis of cobyric acid, the cobalt atom situated in the center of intermediate 5 organizes the structure of the secocorrin, and promotes the cyclization... 

Scheme 21 presents the successful sequence of reactions that solved the remaining two problems and led to the completion of the synthesis of cobyric acid. Exposure of 96 to concentrated sulfuric acid for one hour brings about a clean conversion of the nitrile grouping to the corresponding primary amide grouping. The stability of die corrin nucleus under these rather severe conditions is noteworthy. This new substance, intermediate 97, is identified as cobyrinic acid abcdeg hexamethylester f amide and it is produced along with a very similar substance which is epimeric to 97 at C-13. The action of sulfuric acid on 96 produces a diastereomeric... 

Several chlorophyll derivatives have been prepared by electrophilic substitution, inter alia by formylation reactions. Adopting methods from corrin chemistry.50 alkylation with chloro-methyl methyl ether (caution toxic),32k chloromethyl methyl sulfide,51 and dichloromethyl methyl ether (caution toxic)52 in the presence of Lewis acids are the methods of choice to introduce carbon residues into the chlorin frame work. The compounds listed below have been prepared by these methods. 

The tautomerization of porphyrinogens to pyrrocorphins has been reported in detail in connection with the synthesis of chlorins (sec Section 1.2.1.3.), baeteriochlorins (see Section 1.3.1.) and isobacteriochlorins (see Section 1.4.1.3.). Therefore, only the porphyrinogen-pyrrocorphin tautomerization of uroporphyrinogen I octacarbonitrile 8- 96 will be described as it is of importance regarding the biosynthesis and a possible prebiotic formation of corrins.la,b-2 A major problem concerned with using this approach synthetically is the number of possible diastereomeric products (4 in a 1 1 1 1 ratio) obtained in the reaction and also the formation of isobacteriochlorin diastereomers 10. 

New developments in the field of vitamin B12 reactions of the cobalt atom in corrins and vitamin B12 model compounds. G. N. Schrauzer, Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. Engl., 1976,15, 417-426 (67). 

A review article is an intensive survey of a rather narrow field for example, the titles of some recent reviews are Desulfonation Reactions Recent Developments , Pyrrolizidine and Indolizidine Syntheses Involving 1,3-Dipolar Cycloaddtion , and From Corrin Chemistry to Asymmetry Catalysis—A Personal Account. A good review article is of enormous value, because it is a thorough survey of all the work done in the field under discussion. Review articles are printed in review journals and in certain books. The most important review journals in organic chemistry (though most are not exclusively devoted to organic chemistry) are shown in Table A.3. Some of the journals listed in Table A.l, for example, the Bull Soc. Chim. Fr. and J. Organomet. Chem. also publish occasional review articles. 

Myal Y., Blanchard A., Watson P., CoRRiN M., Shiu R., Iwasiow B. Detection of genetic point mutations by peptide nucleic acid-mediated polymerase chain reaction clamping using paraffin-embedded specimens. Anal. Biochem. 2000 285 169-172. 

Theoretical studies that has investigated the homolysis step in different enzymatic systems [68-70] reveal that small models comprising only the corrin ring and two ligands are insufficient and that inclusion of more amino acids are essential to stabilize the radical intermediates. Recently, a QM/MM study of the initial phase of the glutamate mutase-catalyzed reaction found a large electrostatic stabilization by the surrounding protein [70], In our study of MCM we employed the ONIOM QM MM approach to reveal the role of the protein in the rupture of the Co—C5 bond [29],... 

Naturally, the biosynthesis of cobalamins themselves require delivery of Co ions at a particular point in the reaction scheme. Cobaltochelatase catalyzes the ATP-dependent insertion of Co11 into the corrin ring during the biosynthesis of coenzyme B12 in Pseudomonas denitrifleans. Cobaltochelatase is a heterodimeric enzyme (140 KDA and 450 KDA subunits each inactive in isolation), and the two components have been isolated and purified to homogeneity.1119 The reaction product is divalent cobyrinic acid, demonstrating that hydrogenobyrinic acid and its diamide (255) are precursors of AdoCbl. 

In this reaction sequence acetic acid synthesis requires methyl transfer as CH3 to a Co(I)-corrin by N2 5-methyltetrahydrofolate monoglutamate to give a methylcorrinoid intermediate which is carboxylated to give a carboxymethylcorrinoid. This carboxymethylcorrinoid would then be reductively removed by NADPH to give acetic acid and regenerate the Co(I)-corrin. In contrast to the methyl-transfer proposed for the methionine synthetase reaction, this mechanism suggests that CH3-stabilized by Co attacks CO2 to give a carboxymethylcorrinoid intermediate. 

A similar type of oxygen complex has been observed during the oxidation of [Con(CN) s]-3 but it was not possible to show that this species was formed in the initial reaction step since with this system, as with the cobaloxime(II) system, the 1 1 adduct apparently reacts very rapidly with another molecule of pentacyanocobaltate(II) to form a diamagnetic binuclear complex with a bridging peroxide ligand 116). It appears that in the Bi2-system the bulk of the corrin ring does not allow formation of the diamagnetic binuclear complex. 

Use of CD30D or methyl tetrahydrofuran solvents to encourage electron capture, resulted in a complex set of reactions for methyl cobalamine. Initial addition occurred into the w corrin orbital, but on annealing a cobalt centred radical was obtained, the e.s.r. spectrum of which was characteristic of an electron in a d z.y orbital (involving the corrin ring) rather than the expected d2z orbital. However, the final product was the normal Co species formed by loss of methyl. Formally, this requires loss of CH3 , but this step seems highly unlikely. Some form of assisted loss, such as protonation, seems probable. 

A further example concerns the substitution reactions of the co-balamins (vitamin Bi2). Here the usually inert Co(III) center is labi-lized by the corrin ring, which induces a dissociative substitution behavior. A series of detailed studies of the effect of pressure on com-... 

Non-corrin cobalt has a number of interesting applications in the chemical industry, for example in the hydroformylation (OXO) reaction between CO, H2 and olefins. A number of non-corrin Co-containing enzymes have been described, including methionine aminopep-tidase, prolidase, nitrile hydratase and glucose isomerase. We describe the best characterized of these, namely the E. coli methionine aminopeptidase, a ubiquitous enzyme, which cleaves N-terminal methionine from newly translated polypeptide chains. The active site of the enzyme (Figure 15.13) contains two Co(II) ions that are coordinated by the side-chain atoms of five amino acid residues. The distance between the two Co2+ is similar to that between the two Zn2+ atoms in leucine aminopeptidase, and indeed the catalytic mechanism of methionine aminopeptidase shares many features with other metalloproteases, in particular leucine aminopeptidases. 

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