Degradation acyl esters

Study of the action of ammonia upon carbohydrate acyl esters originated some eighty years ago and, since then, many aspects of this complex reaction have been investigated. The processes that take place in this reaction include migrations, degradations, transesterifications, and deacylations, and their simultaneous occurrence makes the interpretation of the whole scheme very difficult. The present article provides a general description of the facts and a discussion of the different variables that play a role in the yields of products formed and in the mechanisms involved. 

Although most polysaccharides may be acylated without degradation, acyl derivatives of xylans29 are often unsatisfactory for molecular-weight determinations owing to their poor solubility characteristics. Mixed esters of xylans143 are often superior in this respect, but there are obvious difficulties in the differential analysis of acyl groups. Hemicellulose nitrates have been used for measurements of molecular size,168 but xylan nitrates,29 like xylan acetates, are reported to have poor solubility characteristics. 

Esters of cellulose with interesting properties such as bioactivity and thermal and dissolution behavior can be obtained by esterification of cellulose with nitric acid in the presence of sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid, or acetic acid. Commercially important cellulose esters are cellulose acetate, cellulose acetate propionate, and cellulose acetate butyrate. Cellulose esters of aliphatic, aromatic, bulky, and functionalized carboxylic acids can be synthesized through the activation of free acids in situ with tosyl chloride, iV,iV -carbonyldiimidazole, and iminium chloride under homogeneous acylation with DMA/LiCl or DMSO/TBAF. A wide range of cellulose esters that vary in their DS, various substituent distributions, and several desirable properties can be obtained through these reactions. Recently, a number of enzymes that degrade cellulose esters have been reported. Some of them are acetyl esterases, carbohydrate esterase (CE) family 1, and esterases of the CE 5 [169-172] family. 

Diels-Alder reaction, 493 El reaction, 391-392 ElcB reaction, 393 E2 reaction, 386 Edman degradation, 1032 electrophilic addition reaction, 147-148. 188-189 electrophilic aromatic substitution, 548-549 enamine formation, 713 enol formation, 843-844 ester hydrolysis, 809-811 ester reduction, 812 FAD reactions. 1134-1135 fat catabolism, 1133-1136 fat hydrolysis, 1130-1132 Fischer esterification reaction, 796 Friedel-Crafts acylation reaction, 557-558... 

In Candida sp., degradation of the CoA-alkanoic esters to the alkenoic acid esters is catalyzed by an acyl-CoA oxidase and results in the production of H2O2 that is converted into O2 by catalase activity. The enzyme from C. tropicalis contains FAD (Jiang and Thorpe 1983), and in C. lipolytica carries out a stereospecific antielimination of hydrogen (Kawagnchi et al. 1980). 

Volume 75 concludes with six procedures for the preparation of valuable building blocks. The first, 6,7-DIHYDROCYCLOPENTA-l,3-DIOXIN-5(4H)-ONE, serves as an effective /3-keto vinyl cation equivalent when subjected to reductive and alkylative 1,3-carbonyl transpositions. 3-CYCLOPENTENE-l-CARBOXYLIC ACID, the second procedure in this series, is prepared via the reaction of dimethyl malonate and cis-l,4-dichloro-2-butene, followed by hydrolysis and decarboxylation. The use of tetrahaloarenes as diaryne equivalents for the potential construction of molecular belts, collars, and strips is demonstrated with the preparation of anti- and syn-l,4,5,8-TETRAHYDROANTHRACENE 1,4 5,8-DIEPOXIDES. Also of potential interest to the organic materials community is 8,8-DICYANOHEPTAFULVENE, prepared by the condensation of cycloheptatrienylium tetrafluoroborate with bromomalononitrile. The preparation of 2-PHENYL-l-PYRROLINE, an important heterocycle for the synthesis of a variety of alkaloids and pyrroloisoquinoline antidepressants, illustrates the utility of the inexpensive N-vinylpyrrolidin-2-one as an effective 3-aminopropyl carbanion equivalent. The final preparation in Volume 75, cis-4a(S), 8a(R)-PERHYDRO-6(2H)-ISOQUINOLINONES, il lustrates the conversion of quinine via oxidative degradation to meroquinene esters that are subsequently cyclized to N-acylated cis-perhydroisoquinolones and as such represent attractive building blocks now readily available in the pool of chiral substrates. 

In this procedure, quinine is oxidatively degraded to meroquinene esters that are subsequently cyclized to N-acylated cis-decahydroisoquinolones in excellent overall yield, while maintaining the cis stereochemistry at the ring juncture. Furthermore, with the commercial availability of quinine, high overall yields, and ease of isolations, meroquinene and subsequent products are attractive members of a practical "chiral pool . 

Anhydride 150 and trimethylsilyl azide in dioxane yielded an acyl azide, which by thermolysis, and Curtius degradation spontaneously furnished the isocyanate 151 (72CB3958 74CB3533). Anhydride 152 was formed by silyl ester cleavage on hydrolysis [73MI2 90JCS(P1)375]. 

Peptides containing serine or threonine may undergo an N—>0 acyl shift upon exposure to strong acids (Scheme 40). 592,594 This reaction has been exploited in the structure elucidation of cyclosporin A, since the acid-catalyzed acyl shift with formation of an ester allowed its selective hydrolysis to the linear peptide for further stepwise degradation. 593 ... 

This three-step process for transferring fatty acids into the mitochondrion—esterification to CoA, transesterification to carnitine followed by transport, and transesterification back to CoA—links two separate pools of coenzyme A and of fatty acyl-CoA, one in the cytosol, the other in mitochondria These pools have different functions. Coenzyme A in the mitochondrial matrix is largely used in oxidative degradation of pyruvate, fatty acids, and some amino acids, whereas cytosolic coenzyme A is used in the biosynthesis of fatty acids (see Fig. 21-10). Fatty acyl-CoA in the cytosolic pool can be used for membrane lipid synthesis or can be moved into the mitochondrial matrix for oxidation and ATP production. Conversion to the carnitine ester commits the fatty acyl moiety to the oxidative fate. 

The simple furan-3(2/f)-ones exist in the keto form but may be O-acylated with acetic anhydride and sodium acetate however, they undergo C-alkylation. They are usually stable to acid, merely being protonated. 4-Alkoxyfuran-3(2//)-ones are readily hydrolyzed to tetronic acids. Furan-3(2//)-ones are degraded by aqueous base which attacks in a conjugate fashion so that 2,5-dimethylfuran-3(2iT)-one, readily available from biacetyl, furnishes acetate and acetoin, but compounds with an ester group at the 4-position furnish tetronic acids (Scheme 109). 

Support-bound isocyanates can be conveniently prepared from carboxylic acids by Curtius degradation. Because the reaction of the intermediate acyl azides with alcohols to yield esters is slow, Curtius degradation can be conducted in the presence of alcohols to yield carbamates directly (Entries 4 and 5, Table 14.8). 

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