Cyclamate structure relationship

A first requirement for a substance to produce a taste is that it be water soluble. The relationship between the chemical structure of a compound and its taste is more easily established than that between structure and smell. In general, all acid substances are sour. Sodium chloride and other salts are salty, but as constituent atoms get bigger, a bitter taste develops. Potassium bromide is both salty and bitter, and potassium iodide is predominantly bitter. Sweetness is a property of sugars and related compounds but also of lead acetate, beryllium salts, and many other substances such as the artificial sweeteners saccharin and cyclamate. Bitterness is exhibited by alkaloids such as quinine, picric acid, and heavy metal salts. 

Many sulfamic acid derivatives are sweet and much work has been carried out on structure-taste relationships. For example, research showed that sodium exo-2-norbornylsulfamate (89) was some five times sweeter than sodium cyclamate (88), although the corresponding endo-isomer (90) was tasteless (Figure 3). 

The sulfur derivative (87) is 1000 times as sweet as sugar and without the bitter after-taste of saccharin however, it was discovered that N-alkylation of (87) removed the sweetness. On the other hand, in the saccharins (88a)-(88e) containing substituents in the 4-position and 6-position, sweetness was retained after N-alkylation. Many sulfamic acid derivatives are sweet, and there have been numerous studies of structure-taste relationships which have highlighted the importance of molecular shape and stereochemistry (see Chapter 9, p. 162). Two sulfamates which are commercial, non-nutritive sweeteners are cyclamate (85) and acesulfame potassium (86) (Figure 11). Cyclamate (85) is manufactured by refluixing cyclohexylamine either with triethylamine-sulfur trioxide in dichloromethane or with sulfamic acid (see Chapter 9, p. 162). 

Sweeteners are natural or synthetic compounds which imprint a sweet sensation and possess no or negligible nutritional value ( nonnutritive sweeteners ) in relation to the extent of sweetness. There is considerable interest in new sweeteners. The rise in obesity in industrialized countries has established a trend for calorie-reduced nutrition. Also, there is an increased discussion about the safety of saccharin and cyclamate, the two sweeteners which were predominant for a long time. The search for new sweeteners is complicated by the fact that the relationship between chemical structure and sweetness perception is not yet satisfactorily resolved. In addition, the safety of suitable compounds has to be certain. Some other criteria must also be met, for example, the compound must be adequately soluble and stable over a wide pH and temperature range, have a clean sweet taste without side or post-flavor effects, and provide a sweetening effect as cost-effectively as does sucrose. At present, some new sweeteners are on the market (e. g., acesulfame and aspartame). The application of a number of other compounds will be discussed here. 

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