Hydrolysis reactions amides

Inspired by the many hydrolytically-active metallo enzymes encountered in nature, extensive studies have been performed on so-called metallo micelles. These investigations usually focus on mixed micelles of a common surfactant together with a special chelating surfactant that exhibits a high affinity for transition-metal ions. These aggregates can have remarkable catalytic effects on the hydrolysis of activated carboxylic acid esters, phosphate esters and amides. In these reactions the exact role of the metal ion is not clear and may vary from one system to another. However, there are strong indications that the major function of the metal ion is the coordination of hydroxide anion in the Stem region of the micelle where it is in the proximity of the micelle-bound substrate. The first report of catalysis of a hydrolysis reaction by me tall omi cell es stems from 1978. In the years that... 

In base the tetrahedral intermediate is formed m a manner analogous to that pro posed for ester saponification Steps 1 and 2 m Figure 20 8 show the formation of the tetrahedral intermediate m the basic hydrolysis of amides In step 3 the basic ammo group of the tetrahedral intermediate abstracts a proton from water and m step 4 the derived ammonium ion dissociates Conversion of the carboxylic acid to its corresponding carboxylate anion m step 5 completes the process and renders the overall reaction irreversible... 

Solvents influence the hydrogenation of oximes in much the same way as they do hydrogenation of nitriles. Acidic solvents prevent the formation of secondary amines through salt formation with the initially formed primary amine. A variety of acids have been used for this purpose (66 ), but acids cannot always be used interchangeably (43). Primary amines can be trapped also as amides by use of an anhydride solvent (2,/5,57). Ammonia prevents secondary amine formation through competition of ammonia with the primary amine in reaction with the intermediate imine. Unless the ammonia is anhydrous hydrolysis reactions may also occur. 

Conversion of Amides into Carboxylic Acids Hydrolysis Amides undergo hydrolysis to yield carboxylic acids plus ammonia or an amine on heating in either aqueous acid or aqueous base. The conditions required for amide hydrolysis are more severe than those required for the hydrolysis of add chlorides or esters but the mechanisms are similar. Acidic hydrolysis reaction occurs by nucleophilic addition of water to the protonated amide, followed by transfer of a proton from oxygen to nitrogen to make the nitrogen a better leaving group and subsequent elimination. The steps are reversible, with the equilibrium shifted toward product by protonation of NH3 in the final step. 

Amide hydrolysis is common in biological chemistry. Just as the hydrolysis of esters is the initial step in the digestion of dietary fats, the hydrolysis of amides is the initial step in the digestion of dietary proteins. The reaction is catalyzed by protease enzymes and occurs by a mechanism almost identical to that we just saw for fat hydrolysis. That is, an initial nucleophilic acyl substitution of an alcohol group in the enzyme on an amide linkage in the protein gives an acyl enzyme intermediate that then undergoes hydrolysis. 

Enzymes are classified into six categories depending on the kind of reaction they catalyze, as shown in Table 26.2. Oxidoreductases catalyze oxidations and reductions hansferases catalyze the transfer of a group from one substrate to another hydrolases catalyze hydrolysis reactions of esters, amides, and related substrates lyases catalyze the elimination or addition of a small molecule such as H2O from or to a substrate isomerases catalyze isomerizalions and ligases catalyze the bonding together of two molecules, often coupled with the hydrolysis... 

Substituted amides suffer hydrolysis with greater difficulty. The choice of an acid or an alkaline medium vill depend upon (a) the solubility of the compound in the medium and (b) the effect of the reagent upon the products of hydrolysis. Substituted amides of comparatively low molecular weight (e.g., acetanilide) may be hydrolysed by boiling either with 10 per cent, sodium hydroxide solution or with 10 per cent, sulphuric acid for 2-3 hours. Other substituted amides are so insoluble in water that little reaction occurs when they are refluxed with dilute acid or dilute alkali for several hours. These include such substances as benzanilide (C(H(CONHC,Hg) and the benzoyl derivative of a naphthylamine (C.HjCONHCioH,) or a toluidine (C gCONHCjH,). For these substances satisfactory results may be obtained with 70 per cent, sulphuric acid this hydrolysis medium is a much better solvent for the substituted amide than is water or more dilute acid it also permits a higher reaction temperature (compare Section IV 192) ... 

As in the case of esters, hydrolysis of amides is also a fundamental reaction in organic chemistry and plays a key role in biological systems. The reaction has been covered extensively in organic chemistry and biochemistry textbooks. 

Although the ability of microwaves (MW) to heat water and other polar materials has been known for half a century or more, it was not until 1986 that two groups of researchers independently reported the application of MW heating to organic synthesis. Gedye et al. [1] found that several organic reactions in polar solvents could be performed rapidly and conveniently in closed Teflon vessels in a domestic MW oven. These reactions included the hydrolysis of amides and esters to carboxylic acids, esterification of carboxylic acids with alcohols, oxidation of alkyl benzenes to aromatic carboxylic acids and the conversion of alkyl halides to ethers. 

Many hydrolysis reactions, e.g. of esters and some amides, switch from an A2 mechanism to an A1 mechanism as the acidity is increased, and we will see several of these under the A2 reaction and amide hydrolysis headings. 

Enantioselective hydrolysis reactions, especially esters, amides and nitriles. 

In the last 5 years, catalytic antibodies have been generated for several reaction types, including the various types of hydrolysis, transesterification, amide bond formation, /3-elimination, cycloreversion, transacylation, redox reactions, E-Z isomerization, epoxidation, and Diels-Alder reactions. For more information on these and other recent developments, such as semi-synthetic antibodies, site-directed mutagenesis, and the bait-and-switch strategy, the reader should consult the appropriate authorities (Schultz, 1988, 1989a,b Benkovic et al., 1990 Janda et al., 1990, 1991 Janjic and Tramontano, 1990 Lerner et al., 1991). 

Like with primary amides (see Sect. 4.2.1), bacterial amidases can be useful for the transformation of secondary amides in drug synthesis. Bacterial amidases have been extensively studied in the presence of penicillins and other [i-lactam antibiotics, for which two hydrolysis reactions are possible. One of these is carried out by enzymes known as penicillinases or /3-lactamases that open the /3-lactam ring this aspect will be discussed in Chapt. 5. The second type of hydrolysis involves cleavage of the side-chain amide bond (4.47 to 4.48) and is carried out by an enzyme called penicillinacylase (penicillin amidohydrolase, EC 3.5.1.11). Both types of hydrolysis inactivate the antibiotic [29-31],... 

In a hydrolysis reaction, water adds to a bond, splitting it in two. This reaction is the reverse of a condensation reaction. For example, water can add to an ester or amide bond. A carboxylic acid and an alcohol are produced if an ester bond is hydrolyzed, as shown in the example below. A carboxylic acid and an amine are produced if an amide bond is hydrolyzed. 

Both esters and amides undergo hydrolysis reactions. In a hydrolysis reaction, the ester or amide bond is cleaved, or split in two, to form two products. As mentioned earlier, the hydrolysis of an ester produces a carboxylic acid and an alcohol. The hydrolysis of an amide produces a carboxylic acid and an amine. There are two methods of hydrolysis acidic hydrolysis and basic hydrolysis. Both methods are shown in Figure 2.9. Hydrolysis usually requires heat. In acidic hydrolysis, the ester or amide reacts with water in the presence of an acid, such as H2SO4. In basic hydrolysis, the ester or amide reacts with the OH ion, from NaOH or water, in the presence of a base. Soap is made by the basic hydrolysis of ester bonds in vegetable oils or animal fats. 

In order to generate antibodies which catalyse the hydrolysis of carbonates (6, 10), carboxylic esters (9) and amides with a certain degree of specificity, the phosphates (7a. lOai and phosphonates 9a were used as haptens that mimic the tetrahedral negatively charged transition state of the spontaneous hydrolysis reaction (see Scheme 11.3) [27] [29]. 

Hydrolysis reactions are illustrated by the deacylation of colchicine (10) (amide hydrolysis), olivomycin A (29), Rifamycin B (46) or thymoxamine (52) (ester hydrolysis). The reduction of pentoxyfylline (32), zearalenone (56) or warfarin (65) are examples of the common reduction of keto groups, generally affording, with a high stereospecificity, one of the alcohol stereoisomers. 

Base hydrolysis of amides also requires quite vigorous conditions, but mechanistically it is exactly equivalent to base hydrolysis of esters. After nucleophilic attack of hydroxide on to the carbonyl, the tetrahedral anionic intermediate is able to lose either an amide anion (care with nomenclature here, the amide anion is quite different from the amide molecule) or hydroxide. Although loss of hydroxide is preferred, since the amide anion is a stronger base than hydroxide, this would merely reverse the reaction. 

The third group of target molecules comprises chiral carboxylic acid and their derivatives esters, amides and nitriles. Enantiomerically pure esters are prepared in an analogous manner to the enantiomerically pure alcohols discussed earlier [i.e. by esterase- or lipase-catalyzed hydrolysis or (trans)esterification]. However, these reactions are not very interesting in the present context of cascade reactions. Amides can be produced by enantioselective ammoniolysis of esters or even the... 

Not surprisingly, it is rather difficult to separate the different contributions of the different interactions as they occur in the micellar Stern region. In an attempt to solve this problem, the group of Engberts used a series of hydrolysis reactions of activated esters and amides to probe the reaction environment offered by micelles. The reactions initially involved the water-catalyzed pH-independent hydrolysis reactions of i-methoxy-phenyl dichloroacetate 4 and l-benzoyl-3-phenyl-l,2,4-triazole 5, as extensive information on the rate retarding effects of added cosolutes on this reaction was available. ... 

The molecular weight increases with increasing conversion. Regulation of the molecular weight can be achieved by adding small amounts of substances (e.g., benzoic acid) that can react with the polyamide chains by transamidation. Because of the transamidation reaction and hydrolysis of amide bonds, an equilibrium molecular-weight distribution is finally attained (see Sect. 4.1). 

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