Girard’s reagents

Girard s reagents Quaternary ammonium salts of the type Me3NCH2CONHNH2 X which form water-soluble compounds with aldehydes and ketones, and are therefore separable from other neutral compounds the aldehyde or ketone may be subsequently regenerated after separation. 

Girard s reagent T is carbohydrazidomethyltrimethylammonium chloride (I) and is prepared by the reaction of the quaternary ammonium salt formed from ethyl chloroacetate and trimethylamine with hydrazine hydrate in alco-hoUc solution ... 

Girard s reagent P , C5H5NCH2C0NHNH2 C1. In a 1-htre threenecked flask, equipped as in the previous preparation, place 200 ml. of absolute ethyl alcohol, 63 g. (64 -5 ml.) of pure anhydrous pyridine and 98 - 5 g. (84 5 ml.) of ethyl chloroacetate. Heat the mixture under reflux for 2-3 hours until the formation of the quaternary salt is complete acidify a small test-portion with dilute sulphuric acid it should dissolve completely and no odour of ethyl chloroacetate should be apparent. Cool the mixture in ice and salt. Replace the thermometer by a dropping funnel, and add a solution of 40 g. of 100 per cent, hydrazine hydrate in 60 ml. of absolute ethanol all at once. A vigorous exothermic reaction soon develops and is accompanied by vigorous effervescence. The pro duct separates almost immediately. When cold, filter with suction, wash... 

Steroid ketones Apply the sample solution followed by Girard s reagent (0 1% tnmethylacetyl hydrazide in 10% acetic acid) and allow to react for 15 h in an atmosphere of acetic acid Then dry at 80 °C for 10 mm and after cooling chromatograph the hydrazones that have been formed [81]... 

Other hydrazine derivatives frequently used to prepare the corresponding hydrazone are semicarbazide (NH2NHCONH2), in which case the hydrazone is called a semicarbazone, and Girard s reagents Tand P, in which case the hydrazone... 

For a study of the mechanism with Girard s reagent T, see Stachissini, A.S. do Amaral, L. 

Further methods of isolation were later developed [20-23]. The isolation was mostly effected by the use of Girard s reagent T to separate the keto steroids from the non-keto compounds, and each fraction was then separated by adsorption or partition chromatography. 

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