Esters, Lactones

In synthetic target molecules esters, lactones, amides, and lactams are the most common carboxylic acid derivatives. In order to synthesize them from carboxylic acids one has generally to produce an activated acid derivative, and an enormous variety of activating reagents is known, mostly developed for peptide syntheses (M. Bodanszky, 1976). In actual syntheses of complex esters and amides, however, only a small selection of these remedies is used, and we shall mention only generally applicable methods. The classic means of activating carboxyl groups arc the acyl azide method of Curtius and the acyl chloride method of Emil Fischer. 

BBr is a very useful reagent for cleaving ethers, esters, lactones, acetals, and glycosidic bonds it is used to deoxygenate sulfoxides and in the preparation of image-providing materials for photography (5). 

Lithium aluminum hydride (LiAlH4) is the most powerful of the hydride reagents. It reduces acid chlorides, esters, lactones, acids, anhydrides, aldehydes, ketones and epoxides to alcohols amides, nitriles, imines and oximes to amines primary and secondary alkyl halides and toluenesulfonates to... 

Fischer s original method for conversion of the nitrile into an aldehyde involved hydrolysis to a carboxylic acid, ring closure to a cyclic ester (lactone), and subsequent reduction. A modern improvement is to reduce the nitrile over a palladium catalyst, yielding an imine intermediate that is hydrolyzed to an aldehyde. Note that the cyanohydrin is formed as a mixture of stereoisomers at the new chirality center, so two new aldoses, differing only in their stereochemistry at C2, Tesult from Kiliani-Fischer synthesis. Chain extension of D-arabinose, for example, yields a mixture of D-glucose and o-mannose. 

The structurally simplest silicon reagent that has been used to reduce sulphoxides is the carbene analog, dimethylsilylene (Me2Si )29. This molecule was used as a mechanistic probe and did not appear to be useful synthetically. Other silanes that have been used to reduce sulphoxides include iodotrimethylsilane, which is selective but unstable, and chlorotrimethylsilane in the presence of sodium iodide, which is easy to use, but is unselective since it cleaves esters, lactones and ethers it also converts alcohols into iodides. To circumvent these complications, Olah30 has developed the use of methyltrichlorosilane, again in the presence of sodium iodide, in dry acetonitrile (equation 8). A standard range of sulphoxides was reduced under mild conditions, with yields between 80 and 95% and with a simple workup process. The mechanism for the reaction is probably very similar to that given in equation (6), if the tricoordinate boron atoms in this reaction scheme are replaced... 

Esters, lactones, lactams, acyl halides etc. are named by modifying the ending -ic acid as described for aldonic acids (2-Carb-20.2). 

Derivatives of these acids formed by change in the carboxy group (salts, esters, lactones, acyl halides, amides, nitriles, etc.) are named according to 2-Carb-20.2. The anion takes the ending -uronate . Esters are also named using the ending -uronate . 

Lithium aluminium hydride reduces carboxylic esters to give 2mol of alcohol. The reaction is of wide scope and has been used to reduce many esters. Where the interest is in obtaining R OH, this is a method of hydrolyzing esters. Lactones... 

Example The substituted 1,4-diol (4) must surely be made by a method which uses the symmetry of the structure. Disconnection (a) would require Grignard reagent (5) whose OH group would have to be protected. Disconnection (b) gives hydroxy ester (6) and here no protection is necessary as the internal ester (lactone) (7) serves the purpose. 

In this type of reaction the active drug undergoes decomposition following reaction with the solvent present. Usually the solvent is water, but sometimes the reaction may involve pharmaceutical cosolvents such as ethyl alcohol or polyethylene glycol. These solvents can act as nucleophiles, attacking the electropositive centers in drug molecules. The most common solvolysis reactions encountered in pharmaceuticals are those involving labile carbonyl compounds such as esters, lactones, and lactams (Table 1). 

Acids, Esters, Lactones, Amides, Imides, and Anhydrides... 

The high level of interest in the ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of cyclic esters (lactones) stems from the biocompatibility and biodegradability of their polymers. Resorbable aliphatic... 

The formation of this analog CXI of L-ascorbic acid containing one enolic hydroxy group is therefore responsible for the reducing properties displayed by the two dilactones CIX and CX and the two ester lactones CVII and CVIII of D-glucosaccharic acid. 

A direct catalytic conversion of esters, lactones, and carboxylic acids to oxazolines was efficiently achieved by treatment with amino alcohols in the presence of the tetranuclear zinc cluster Zn4(0C0CF3)60 as catalyst, essential for condensation and cyclodehydration reactions. For example, the use of (5)-valinol allowed the easy synthesis of oxazolines 125 and 126 in satisfactory yields <06CC2711>. A one-pot direct preparation of various 2-substituted oxazolines (as well as benzoxazoles and oxadiazoles) was also performed from carboxylic acids and amino alcohols (or aminophenols or benzhydrazide) using Deoxo-Fluor reagent <06TL6497>. 

Hydrocarbons, alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, carboxylic adds, quinones, esters, lactones, phenolics, steroids, alkaloids, cyanogenic glycosides, sulfides, peptides, proteins Arachnida... 

It includes alcohols, esters, lactones and acid anhydrides. 

Sodium borohydride is a much milder reducing agent than lithium aluminium hydride and like the latter is used for the reduction of carbonyl compounds like aldehydes and ketones. However, under normal conditions it does not readily reduce epoxides, esters, lactones, acids, nitriles or nitro groups. 

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