Ester hydrolysis, acidic conditions

Once the carboxylic acid and the alcohol are formed they are capable of re-reacting so as to re-form the ester. Now consider the situation when the ethyl ester group is substituted by a /-butyl ester group. Write down the equation for the hydrolysis of this new ester under acid conditions. 

Section 20 11 Ester hydrolysis m basic solution is called saponification and proceeds through the same tetrahedral intermediate (Figure 20 5) as m acid catalyzed hydrolysis Unlike acid catalyzed hydrolysis saponification is irreversible because the carboxylic acid is deprotonated under the reac tion conditions... 

Under acidic conditions, furfuryl alcohol polymerizes to black polymers, which eventually become crosslinked and insoluble in the reaction medium. The reaction can be very violent and extreme care must be taken when furfuryl alcohol is mixed with any strong Lewis acid or Brn nstad acid. Copolymer resins are formed with phenoHc compounds, formaldehyde and/or other aldehydes. In dilute aqueous acid, the predominant reaction is a ring opening hydrolysis to form levulinic acid [123-76-2] (52). In acidic alcohoHc media, levulinic esters are formed. The mechanism for this unusual reaction in which the hydroxymethyl group of furfuryl alcohol is converted to the terminal methyl group of levulinic acid has recendy been elucidated (53). 

Three general methods exist for the resolution of enantiomers by Hquid chromatography (qv) (47,48). Conversion of the enantiomers to diastereomers and subsequent column chromatography on an achiral stationary phase with an achiral eluant represents a classical method of resolution (49). Diastereomeric derivatization is problematic in that conversion back to the desired enantiomers can result in partial racemization. For example, (lR,23, 5R)-menthol (R)-mandelate (31) is readily separated from its diastereomer but ester hydrolysis under numerous reaction conditions produces (R)-(-)-mandehc acid (32) which is contaminated with (3)-(+)-mandehc acid (33). 

Another synthesis of the cortisol side chain from a C17-keto-steroid is shown in Figure 20. Treatment of a C3-protected steroid 3,3-ethanedyidimercapto-androst-4-ene-ll,17-dione [112743-82-5] (144) with a tnhaloacetate, 2inc, and a Lewis acid produces (145). Addition of a phenol and potassium carbonate to (145) in refluxing butanone yields the aryl vinyl ether (146). Concomitant reduction of the C20-ester and the Cll-ketone of (146) with lithium aluminum hydride forms (147). Deprotection of the C3-thioketal, followed by treatment of (148) with y /(7-chlotopetben2oic acid, produces epoxide (149). Hydrolysis of (149) under acidic conditions yields cortisol (29) (181). 

Studies of reaction mechanisms ia O-enriched water show the foUowiag cleavage of dialkyl sulfates is primarily at the C—O bond under alkaline and acid conditions, and monoalkyl sulfates cleave at the C—O bond under alkaline conditions and at the S—O bond under acid conditions (45,54). An optically active half ester (j -butyl sulfate [3004-76-0]) hydroly2es at 100°C with iaversion under alkaline conditions and with retention plus some racemization under acid conditions (55). Effects of solvent and substituted stmcture have been studied, with moist dioxane giving marked rate enhancement (44,56,57). Hydrolysis of monophenyl sulfate [4074-56-0] has been similarly examined (58). 

The hydrolysis of amides to carboxylic acids and amines requires considerably more vigorous conditions than ester hydrolysis. The reason is that the electron-releasing... 

Only in the case of the pyruvic acid condensation product was it possible to isolate the corresponding ethyl ester under these conditions. This, on mild hydrolysis, reverted to 1-methyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-j8-carbohne-1-carboxylic acid, identical with the starting material, which therefore had the assigned structure 26 (R = CH3) and was not the SchiflF s base 25 (R = CH3). Alkaline hydrolysis of the ester was accompanied by decarboxylation. ... 

Alcohol sulfates are half esters of sulfuric acid and contain a C-O-S bond in the molecule. This bond is only relatively stable in water and can hydrolyze, mainly under acidic conditions. The hydrolysis is favored by temperature as was proven in the study of Maurer et al. with octadecyl sulfuric acid [57]. They found that a 0.05 M solution in distilled water at 100°C hydrolyzed to 50% in less than 30 min, whereas at 60°C the hydrolysis was 10% after 3 h and 16% after 7 h. 

Esterification of 22 with diol 24 (DCC/DMAP/BtOH) gave 29 in 84% yield (Fig. 12) and subsequent hydrolysis of the f-butyl ester group under acidic conditions afforded the third-generation carboxylic acid 23. All of the spectroscopic... 

Hydrolysis appears to be the most important abiotic degradative mechanism for organophosphate esters under basic pH conditions. Under neutral and acidic conditions, the reaction slows considerably and could become an insignificant removal mechanism. The hydrolysis proceeds by a stepwise mechanism in which one alcohol group is removed at a time. The first step is cleavage of a P-OR bond (where "R" is an aryl or alkyl group) to produce a diester of phosphoric acid, which, under basic conditions, becomes an anion. 

Using dicyclohexyl-18-crown-6 it is possible to dissolve potassium hydroxide in benzene at a concentration which exceeds 0.15 mol dm-3 (Pedersen, 1967). The free OH- has been shown to be an excellent reagent for ester hydrolysis under such conditions. The related solubilization of potassium permanganate in benzene, to yield purple benzene , enables oxidations to be performed in this solvent (Hiraoka, 1982). Thus, it is possible to oxidize a range of alkenes, alcohols, aldehydes, and alkylbenzenes under mild conditions using this solubilized reagent. For example, purple benzene will oxidize many alkenes or alcohols virtually instantaneously at room temperature to yield the corresponding carboxylic acids in near-quantitative yields (Sam Simmons, 1972). 

After this brief characterisation of reversibility, we may use the example of esterification to consider next the question how the limitation of the reaction is to be explained. To the extent that acid and alcohol interact, and their reaction products, ester and water, are formed, the reverse reaction (ester + water = acid + alcohol) also gains in extent. A point is eventually reached at which just as many molecules of add and alcohol react to form ester as molecules of ester and water are decomposed to form acid and alcohol. The two reactions balance each other, and it would seem as if the reacting system had come to a state of rest. But this apparent rest is simulated by the fact that, in unit time, equal numbers of ester molecules are formed and decomposed. A state of equilibrium has been attained, and, as the above considerations indicate, this state would also have been reached had the reaction proceeded at the outset from the opposite side between equimolecular amounts of ester and water. In the latter case the hydrolysis of the ester would likewise have been balanced sooner or later, according to the conditions prevailing, by the opposing esterification—in this case when 33-3 per cent of the ester had been decomposed. The equilibrium is therefore the same, no matter from which side it is approached on this depends its exact experimental investigation, both here and in many other reactions. 

Enzymes of the pepsin family rarely catalyze the hydrolysis of esters, with the exceptions of, for example, esters of L-/3-penicillactic acid and some sulfinic acid esters. Under suitable conditions, i. e., low pH, high enzyme concentration, and formation of an insoluble peptide, aspartic peptidases are able to catalyze the synthesis of peptides [71] [72],... 

The term acid catalysis is often taken to mean proton catalysis ( specific acid catalysis ) in contrast to general acid catalysis. In this sense, acid-catalyzed hydrolysis begins with protonation of the carbonyl O-atom, which renders the carbonyl C-atom more susceptible to nucleophilic attack. The reaction continues as depicted in Fig. 7. l.a (Pathway a) with hydration of the car-bonium ion to form a tetrahedral intermediate. This is followed by acyl cleavage (heterolytic cleavage of the acyl-0 bond). Pathway b presents an mechanism that can be observed in the presence of concentrated inorganic acids, but which appears irrelevant to hydrolysis under physiological conditions. The same is true for another mechanism of alkyl cleavage not shown in Fig. 7.Fa. All mechanisms of proton-catalyzed ester hydrolysis are reversible. 

Metal-ion catalysis has been extensively reviewed (Martell, 1968 Bender, 1971). It appears that metal ions will not affect ester hydrolysis reactions unless there is a second co-ordination site in the molecule in addition to the carbonyl group. Hence, hydrolysis of the usual types of esters is not catadysed by metal ions, but hydrolysis of amino-acid esters is subject to catalysis, presumably by polarization of the carbonyl group (KroU, 1952). Cobalt (II), copper (II), and manganese (II) ions promote hydrolysis of glycine ethyl ester at pH 7-3-7-9 and 25°, conditions under which it is otherwise quite stable (Kroll, 1952). The rate constants have maximum values when the ratio of metal ion to ester concentration is unity. Consequently, the most active species is a 1 1 complex. The rate constant increases with the ability of the metal ion to complex with 2unines. The scheme of equation (30) was postulated. The rate of hydrolysis of glycine ethyl... 

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