Formate esters, hydrolysis

Amino acids and their derivatives undergo a wide range of reactions, e.g. racemization, peptide bond formation, ester hydrolysis, aldol-type condensation, Schiff base formation and redox reactions, which are catalyzed by coordination to a metal centre. A number of reviews are available which cover some of these reactions.48,69,70... 

Many carboxy derivatives are available by primary syntheses. Otherwise the best route to simple pyrimidinecarboxylic acid derivatives is oxidative. This statement is even more applicable to our present situation with readily available acyl-, alkenyl-, or alkynylpyrimidine substrates from the coupling procedures, which serve as excellent substrates for oxidative reactions. The normal carboxylic acid reactions are observed ester formation, ester hydrolysis, aminolysis, acid chloride formation and reactions. A carboxy group in an electrophilic position may readily be lost when the pyrimidine ring is further depleted of 7t-electrons by its substitution pattern selective decarboxylation can be effected in pyrimidinedicarboxylic acids. 

When esterification is the objective water is removed from the reaction mixture to encourage ester formation When ester hydrolysis is the objective the reaction is carried out m the presence of a generous excess of water Both reactions illustrate the applica tion of Le Chatelier s principle (Section 6 10) to organic synthesis... 

The mechanism of acid catalyzed ester hydrolysis is presented m Figure 20 4 It IS precisely the reverse of the mechanism given for acid catalyzed ester formation m Section 19 14 Like other nucleophilic acyl substitutions it proceeds m two stages A... 

FIGURE 20 4 The mecha nism of acid catalyzed ester hydrolysis Steps 1 through 3 show the formation of the tetrahedral intermediate Dissociation of the tetrahe dral intermediate is shown in steps 4 through 6... 

In an extension of the work described m the preceding section Bender showed that basic ester hydrolysis was not concerted and like acid hydrolysis took place by way of a tetrahedral intermediate The nature of the experiment was the same and the results were similar to those observed m the acid catalyzed reaction Ethyl benzoate enriched m 0 at the carbonyl oxygen was subjected to hydrolysis m base and samples were isolated before saponification was complete The recovered ethyl benzoate was found to have lost a por tion of Its isotopic label consistent with the formation of a tetrahedral intermediate... 

Uses ndReactions. Dihydromyrcene is used primarily for manufacture of dihydromyrcenol (25), but there are no known uses for the pseudocitroneUene. Dihydromyrcene can be catalyticaUy hydrated to dihydromyrcenol by a variety of methods (103). Reaction takes place at the more reactive tri-substituted double bond. Reaction of dihydromyrcene with formic acid gives a mixture of the alcohol and the formate ester and hydrolysis of the mixture with base yields dihydromyrcenol (104). The mixture of the alcohol and its formate ester is also a commercially avaUable product known as Dimyrcetol. Sulfuric acid is reported to have advantages over formic acid and hydrogen chloride in that it is less compUcated and gives a higher yield of dihydromyrcenol (105). 

Hydrolysis of esters and amides by enzymes that form acyl enzyme intermediates is similar in mechanism but different in rate-limiting steps. Whereas formation of the acyl enzyme intermediate is a rate-limiting step for amide hydrolysis, it is the deacylation step that determines the rate of ester hydrolysis. This difference allows elimination of the undesirable amidase activity that is responsible for secondary hydrolysis without affecting the rate of synthesis. Addition of an appropriate cosolvent such as acetonitrile, DMF, or dioxane can selectively eliminate undesirable amidase activity (128). 

We should distinguish between the phrases nucleophilic attack and nucleophilic catalysis. Nucleophilic attack means the bond-forming approach by an electron pair of the nucleophile to an electron-deficient site on the substrate. In nucleophilic catalysis this results in an increase in the rate of reaction relative to the rate in the absence of the catalyst. However, nucleophilic attack may not result in catalysis. Thus, if methylamine is reacted with a phenyl acetate, the reaction observed is amide formation, not hydrolysis, because the product of the nucleophilic attack is more stable than is the ester to hydrolysis. 

The Zincke reaction has also been adapted for the solid phase. Dupas et al. prepared NADH-model precursors 58, immobilized on silica, by reaction of bound amino functions 57 with Zincke salt 8 (Scheme 8.4.19) for subsequent reduction to the 1,4-dihydropyridines with sodium dithionite. Earlier, Ise and co-workers utilized the Zincke reaction to prepare catalytic polyelectrolytes, starting from poly(4-vinylpyridine). Formation of Zincke salts at pyridine positions within the polymer was achieved by reaction with 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene, and these sites were then functionalized with various amines. The resulting polymers showed catalytic activity in ester hydrolysis. ... 

Alkaline (and also acidic) ester hydrolysis of /3-poly(L-malate) is accompanied by side reactions leading to the formation of fumarate, maleate and/or racemiza-tion, especially at elevated temperatures. The above assays thus underestimate the polymer contents due to the formation of small amounts of 2-4% fumarate (unpublished results). This fraction of fumarate increases for the hydrolysis of more concentrated polymer solutions. 

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... 

Volume 8 Volume 9 Volume 10 Volume 12 Volume 13 Proton Transfer Addition and Elimination Reactions of Aliphatic Compounds Ester Formation and Hydrolysis and Related Reactions Electrophilic Substitution at a Saturated Carbon Atom Reactions of Aromatic Compounds Section 5. POLYMERISATION REACTIONS (3 volumes)... 

Ester Formation and Hydrolysis and Related Reactions 13 Reactions of Aromatic Compounds... 

The intermediates 74 and 76 can now lose OR to give the acid (not shown in the equations given), or they can lose OH to regenerate the carboxylic ester. If 74 goes back to ester, the ester will still be labeled, but if 76 reverts to ester, the 0 will be lost. A test of the two possible mechanisms is to stop the reaction before completion and to analyze the recovered ester for 0. This is just what was done by Bender, who found that in alkaline hydrolysis of methyl, ethyl, and isopropyl benzoates, the esters had lost 0. A similar experiment carried out for acid-Catalyzed hydrolysis of ethyl benzoate showed that here too the ester lost However, alkaline hydrolysis of substimted benzyl benzoates showed no loss. This result does not necessarily mean that no tetrahedral intermediate is involved in this case. If 74 and 76 do not revert to ester, but go entirely to acid, no loss will be found even with a tetrahedral intermediate. In the case of benzyl benzoates this may very well be happening, because formation of the acid relieves steric strain. Another possibility is that 74 loses OR before it can become protonated to 75. Even the experiments that do show loss do not prove the existence of the tetrahedral intermediate, since it is possible that is lost by some independent process not leading to ester hydrolysis. To deal with this possibility. Bender and Heck measured the rate of loss in the hydrolysis of ethyl trifluorothioloacetate- 0 ... 

See the lUPAC rules Guthrie, R.D. Pure Appl. Chem., 1989, 61, 23. As given here, the lUPAC designations for BacI and BalI are the same, but Rule A.2 adds further symbols so that they can be distinguished Su-AL for BalI and Su-AC for BacI- por reviews of the mechanisms of ester hydrolysis and formation, see Kirby, A.J. in Bamford Tipper, Ref 193, vol. 10, 1972, p. 57 Euranto, E.K. in Patai, Ref 216, p. 505. This is an Sn 1 mechanism with OR as leaving group, which does not happen. 

Fitzgerald JW (1976) Sulfate ester formation and hydrolysis a potentially important yet often ignored aspect of the sulfur cycle of aerobic soils. Bacterial Rev 40 698-721. 

The superiority of extractive hydrolysis over acid hydrolysis with respect to its productivity, yield, raw materials, and waste streams, for the transformation of drug intermediates (e.g. for Primaxin) in formate ester form to the corresponding alcohol, has been effectively demonstrated by King et al. (1985). They carried out the hydrolysis of the relevant formate ester with simultaneous extraction of the desired product from the undesired impurities by two-phase reaction/extraction with a base. 

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