Hydrolysis, acetal nitrile

Iso-nitriles, Carbylamines.— The alkyl cyanides because of tlieir relations to acids are known as acid nitriles methyl cyanide by hydrolysis yields acetic acid and it is thus known also as acetic nitrile. The iso-cyanides being isomeric with the nitriles are also termed isonitriles. Another name is sometimes used because of. their amine relationship, viz., carbyl-amine methyl iso-cyanide, CH3—NC, being methyl carbylamine. The lower alkyl-iso-cyanides are liquids with a very strong disagreeable odor. They are readily hydrolized by water but form salts with hydrochloric acid and also with silver cyanide. 

This is exactly analogous to the relation between ammonium acetate, acetamide and acetic nitrile or methyl cyanide (p. 148). As cyanogen is a t/ -cyanide or a intermediate product formed by the hydrolysis of only one nitrile group. Such a compound would be cyano formic acid and a semi-nitrile of oxalic acid. 

The hydrolysis of nitriles to amides is applicable to C-cyanoglycosides. As shown in Scheme 2.2.19, BeMiller, et al.,14 utilized titanium tetrachloride in acetic acid to effect the conversion of a peracetylated C-cyanogalactoside to its corresponding primary amide. This transformation was effected in an 80% yield. Furthermore, base hydrolysis of the nitrile provides a clean conversion to the carboxylic acid.15 Thus through the methods already mentioned, extensions with standard organic techniques allow the formation of a wide variety of useful functional groups. 

Still another powerful method for the regeneration of carbonyl compounds from dialkylhydrazones is copper-catalyzed hydrolysis. The reagents that have been tested for this purpose are 2% aqueous cop-per(II) acetate solution at pH 4, copper(II) chloride in 0.05M phosphate buffer and 75% tetrahydrofu-ran/water, and copper(II) sulfate pentahydrate . Under the conditions of the hydrolysis, no reaction is observed in the absence of the copper(II) ion. Typical yields are 85-100%. Other functional groups like a-dicarbonyl, a-tricarbonyl, acetal and aldehydic formyl groups were not affected by this hydrolysis procedure. Nitrile formation in the case of aldehyde dimethylhydrazones was not a significant side reaction. However, reaction times ranged from 1 to 15 h. The reaction is believed to be nonoxidative in nature rather, the copper is believed to activate the C=N bond and catalyze hydrolysis. The dimethylhydrazine produced during hydrolysis also complexes irreversibly with the copper(II) ion to drive the reaction to completion. 

Hydrolysis may be effected with 10-20 per cent, sodium hydroxide solution (see p-Tolunitrile and Benzonitrile in Section IV,66) or with 10 per cent, methyl alcoholic sodium hydroxide. For diflScult cases, e.g., a.-Naphthoniirile (Section IV,163), a mixture of 50 per cent, sulphuric acid and glacial acetic acid may be used. In alkahne hydrolysis the boiling is continued until no more ammonia is evolved. In acid hydro-lysis 2-3 hours boiling is usually sufficient the reaction product is poured into water, and the organic acid is separated from any unchanged nitrile or from amide by means of sodium carbonate solution. The resulting acid is identified as detailed in Section IV,175. 

The addition of active methylene compounds (ethyl malonate, ethyl aoeto-acetate, ethyl plienylacetate, nltromethane, acrylonitrile, etc.) to the aP-double bond of a conjugated unsaturated ketone, ester or nitrile In the presence of a basic catalyst (sodium ethoxide, piperidine, diethylamiiie, etc.) is known as the Michael reaction or Michael addition. The reaction may be illustrated by the addition of ethyl malonate to ethyl fumarate in the presence of sodium ethoxide hydrolysis and decarboxylation of the addendum (ethyl propane-1 1 2 3-tetracarboxylate) yields trlcarballylic acid ... 

The formation of ethyl cyano(pentafluorophenyl)acetate illustrates the intermolecular nucleophilic displacement of fluoride ion from an aromatic ring by a stabilized carbanion. The reaction proceeds readily as a result of the activation imparted by the electron-withdrawing fluorine atoms. The selective hydrolysis of a cyano ester to a nitrile has been described. (Pentafluorophenyl)acetonitrile has also been prepared by cyanide displacement on (pentafluorophenyl)methyl halides. However, this direct displacement is always aecompanied by an undesirable side reaetion to yield 15-20% of 2,3-bis(pentafluoro-phenyl)propionitrile. 

This method is an adaptation of that of Dengel. -Methoxy-phenylacetonitrile can also be prepared by the metathetical reaction of anisyl chloride with alkali cyanides in a variety of aqueous solvent mixtures by the nitration of phenylaceto-nitrile, followed by reduction, diazotization, hydrolysis, and methylation 1 by the reduction of ct-benzoxy- -methoxy-phenylacetonitrile (prepared from anisaldehyde, sodium cyanide, and benzoyl chloride) and by the reaction of acetic anhydride with the oxime of -methoxyphenylpyruvic acid. ... 

Transformation of the amino nitriles to the corresponding amino acids, with removal of the dioxane ring, is carried out in two steps. Treatment with concentrated hydrochloric acid results in the hydrolysis of both the nitrile and the acetal group, and in cyclization to the corresponding 3-substituted 5-hydroxyniethyl-3-methyl-2-oxo-6-phenylmorpholinc hydrochlorides. Oxidative cleavage with 2 N sodium hydroxide solution, air and Raney nickel at 120 CC (ca. 30 h) delivers the hydrochlorides of the free a-methylamino acids in high yield. 

The removal of the carbohydrate auxiliary group and the hydrolysis of the amino nitriles is achieved by acidolytic cleavage of the hemiaminal /V-glycosidic bond and the concomitant acid-catalyzed solvolysis of the nitrile using either hydrogen chloride in formic acid or hydrogen bromide in acetic acid56 57. 

Indole (I) condenses with formaldehyde and dimethylamine in the presence of acetic acid (Mannioh reaction see Section VI,20) largely in the 3-position to give 3-dimethylaminomethylindole or gramine (II). The latter reacts In hot aqueous ethanol with sodium cyanide to give the nitrile (III) upon boiling the reaction mixture, the nitrile undergoes hydrolysis to yield 3-indoleacet-amide (IV), part of which is further hydrolysed to 3-indoleacetic acid (V, as sodium salt). The product is a readily separable mixture of 20 per cent, of (IV) and 80 per cent, of (V). 

The wide latitude of structural variation consistent with bioactivity in this series is illustrated by the observation that antiinflammatory activity is maintained even when the second aromatic group is attached directly to the pyrrole nitrogen rather than to the heterocyclic ring via a carbonyl group as in the previous case. Condensation of p-chloroaniline with hexane-2,5-dione (or its dimethoxy-tetrahydrofuran equivalent) affords pyrrole 7. The acetic acid side chain is then elaborated as above. Thus, Mannich reaction leads to the dimethylaminomethyl derivative 8, which is in turn methylated (9) the quaternary nitrogen replaced by cyanide to afford 10. Hydrolysis of the nitrile then gives clopirac (11). 

Several 4-(3-alkyl-2-isoxazolin-5-yl)phenol derivatives that possess liquid crystal properties have also been obtained (533-535). In particular, target compounds such as 463 (R = pentyl, nonyl) have been prepared by the reaction of 4-acetoxystyrene with the nitrile oxide derived from hexanal oxime, followed by alkaline hydrolysis of the acetate and esterification (535). A homologous series of 3-[4-alkyloxyphenyl]-5-[3,4-methylenedioxybenzyl]-2-isoxazolines, having chiral properties has been synthesized by the reaction of nitrile oxides, from the dehydrogenation of 4-alkyloxybenzaldoximes. These compounds exhibit cholesteric phase or chiral nematic phase (N ), smectic A (S4), and chiral smectic phases (Sc ), some at or just above room temperature (536). 

D-Fucose (Rhodeose). Voto6ek obtained tetraacetyl-D-fucononitrile in 25% yield by treating D-fucose oxime with sodium acetate-acetic anhydride. The nitrile, degraded with ammonia and silver oxide, yielded 5-desoxy-D-lyxose diacetamide in 40% yield. The diacetamide compound was hydrolyzed with 5% hydrochloric acid and the 5-desoxy-D-lyxose was obtained in solution and characterized as the p-bromo-phenylosazone. Hydrolysis of the diacetamide compound with 6 N sulfuric acid was realized by Voto6ek and Valentin and the 5-desoxy-D-lyxose was isolated as a sirup. 

D-Glucose. WohP obtained pentaacetyl-n-glucononitrile in 40% yield by the action of sodium acetate-acetic anhydride. The nitrile when treated with ammonia-silver oxide gave a 47 % yield of n-arabinose diacetamide. Hydrolysis of the diacetamide derivative with 6 N sulfuric acid produced crystalline n-arabinose in 50-60 % yield. The process was improved by Neuberg and Wohlgemuth, who obtained n-arabinose in an over-all yield of 34.7 % of the n-glucose employed. 

The synthesis of valsartan (2) by Novartis/Ciba-Geigy chemists is highlighted in Scheme 9.5. Biphenylbenzyl bromide 18 is converted to biphenyl acetate 19 in the presence of sodium acetate in acetic acid. Hydrolysis of 19 followed by Swern oxidation delivered the biphenyl aldehyde 20, which underwent reductive amination with (L)-valine methyl ester (21) to give biphenyl amino acid 22. Acylation of 22 with penta-noyl chloride (23) afforded biphenyl nitrile 24, which is reacted with tributyltin azide to form the tetrazole followed by ester hydrolysis and acidihcation to provide valsartan (2). [See Biihlmayer et al. (1994, 1995).]... 

Hydroxyethyl)carbazole can be oxidized with copper(II) oxide-potassium hydroxide at 240°C to the carbazol-9-ylacetic acid the benzoate ester of the alcohol was cleaved to regenerate alcohol using phenyl Grignard reagent. The 9-acetic acid is also produced by alkaline hydrolysis of the corresponding nitrile. ... 

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