Levorotatory

Occasionally an optically inactive sample of tartaric acid was obtained Pasteur noticed that the sodium ammonium salt of optically inactive tartaric acid was a mixture of two mirror image crystal forms With microscope and tweezers Pasteur carefully sep arated the two He found that one kind of crystal (m aqueous solution) was dextrorota tory whereas the mirror image crystals rotated the plane of polarized light an equal amount but were levorotatory... 

Chemical Properties. Because of its chiral center, malic acid is optically active. In 1896, when tartaric acid was first reduced to malic acid, the levorotatory enantiomer, S(—), was confirmed as having the spatial configuration (1) (5,6). The other enantiomer (2) has the R configuration. A detailed discussion of configuration assignment by the sequence rule or the R and S system is available (7). 

The optical activity of malic acid changes with dilution (8). The naturally occurring, levorotatory acid shows a most peculiar behavior in this respect a 34% solution at 20°C is optically inactive. Dilution results in increasing levo rotation, whereas more concentrated solutions show dextro rotation. The effects of dilution are explained by the postulation that an additional form, the epoxide (3), occurs in solution and that the direction of rotation of the normal (open-chain) and epoxide forms is reversed (8). Synthetic (racemic) R,.9-ma1ic acid can be resolved into the two enantiomers by crystallisation of its cinchonine salts. 

In addition to its presence in fmits, S(—)-malic acid has been found in cultures of a variety of microorganisms including the aspergiUi, yeasts, species of Sekrotinia, and Penicillium brevicompactum. Yields of levorotatory malic acid as high as 74% of theoretical have been reported. Iron, manganese, chromium, or aluminum ions reportedly enhance malic acid production. S(—)-Mahc acid is involved in two respiratory metaboHc cycles the Krebs tricarboxylic acid... 

Biosynthesis ofS(— )-M llc Acid. Aqueous fumaric acid is converted to levorotatory malic acid by the intracellular enzyme, fumarase, which is produced by various microorganisms. A Japanese process for continuous commercial production of S(—)-mahc acid from fumaric acid is based on the use of immobilized Brevibacteriumflavum cells in carrageenan (32). The yield of pyrogen-free S(—)-mahc acid that is suitable for pharmaceutical use is ca 70% of the theoretical. 

Tartaric acid [526-83-0] (2,3-dihydroxybutanedioic acid, 2,3-dihydroxysuccinic acid), C H O, is a dihydroxy dicarboxyhc acid with two chiral centers. It exists as the dextro- and levorotatory acid the meso form (which is inactive owing to internal compensation), and the racemic mixture (which is commonly known as racemic acid). The commercial product in the United States is the natural, dextrorotatory form, (R-R, R )-tartaric acid (L(+)-tartaric acid) [87-69-4]. This enantiomer occurs in grapes as its acid potassium salt (cream of tartar). In the fermentation of wine (qv), this salt forms deposits in the vats free crystallized tartaric acid was first obtained from such fermentation residues by Scheele in 1769. 

The synthesis of optically active epoxy-1,4-naphthoquinones (69) using ben2ylquininium chloride as the chiral catalyst under phase-transfer conditions has been reported (67). 2-Meth5l-l,4-naphthoquinone (R = CH ) (31) yields 70% of levorotatory (37). 2-Cyclohexyl-l,4-naphthoquinone... 

The synthesis of dextromethorphan is an outgrowth of early efforts to synthesize the morphine skeleton. /V-Methy1morphinan(40) was synthesized in 1946 (58,59). The 3-hydroxyl and the 3-methoxy analogues were prepared by the same method. Whereas the natural alkaloids of opium are optically active, ie, only one optical isomer can be isolated, synthetic routes to the morphine skeleton provide racemic mixtures, ie, both optical isomers, which can be separated, tested, and compared pharmacologically. In the case of 3-methoxy-/V-methylmorphinan, the levorotatory isomer levorphanol [77-07-6] (levorphan) was found to possess both analgesic and antitussive activity whereas the dextrorotatory isomer, dextromethorphan (39), possessed only antitussive activity. Dextromethorphan, unlike most narcotics, does not depress ciUary activity, secretion of respiratory tract fluid, or respiration. 

As shown for the aldotetroses, an aldose belongs to the d or the l series according to the configuration of the chirality center farthest removed from the aldehyde function. Individual nfflnes, such as erythrose and threose, specify the particular ariangement of chirality centers within the molecule relative to each other. Optical activities cannot be determined directly from the d and l prefixes. As it turns out, both D-erythrose and D-threose are levorotatory, but D-glyceraldehyde is dextrorotatory. 

More then a dozen representatives of the above ring systems were introduced into the human therapy. Actisomide (2) and trequinsin (3) are used as antiarrhytmic and antihypertensive agents, respectively. Sunepitron (4), a a 2-adrenoceptor antagonist, is under clinical trials for the treatment of anxiety and depression. Representatives of the third generation of antibacterial quinolone-3-carboxylic acids the blockbluster ofloxacin (5), its levorotatory enantiomer, levofloxacin (6), and rufloxacin (7) have gained wide acceptance for the treatment of bacterial infections of the respiratory and urinary tracts, skin, and soft tissues, as well as sexually transmitted diseases, and pazufloxacin (8) is under development. Praziquantel (9) is widely applied for the treatment of schistosomes- and cestode-caused infection in both veterinary and human therapies (Scheme 4). 

Acylation of ami noketone 8 with the acid chloride from p-toluic acid affords the corresponding ester (10) catalytic hydrogenation leads to the bronchodilator bitolerol (11). An analogous scheme starting from the N-methyl ketone (12) and pivaloyl chloride gives ami noalcohol (14). This compound is then resolved to isolate the levorotatory isomer. There is thus obtained the drug dipivefrin. 

Lavo-. levo-, laevo-. -glukosan, n. levoglucosan. lavogyr, a. levorotatory. 

Natural Occurrence of ( — )-proto-Quercitol. Although the dextrorotatory form (12) of proto-quercitol was discovered in acorns more than a century ago by Braconnot (5), who at first thought that it was lactose, the levorotatory form (13) remained unknown until 1961. In that year, Plouvier isolated it from leaves of the tree Eucalyptus populnea the yield was 0.55% (36). The optical rotation of the new compound was equal and opposite to that of the dextro enantiomer, and it was identical to the latter in its crystal form, melting point, solubilities, molecular formula and infrared spectrum. 

The discoverer of levorotatory proto-quercitol unfortunately described it (36) as L-quercitol. The capital letter l should of course be understood to designate configuration, not rotation. And according to one widely accepted convention (18,19), the quercitol stereosiomer which has the configuration 13 would be designated V , not l . (See formulas 12 and 13.) The name quercitol is now used in a generic sense (cyclo-hexanepentol), so that there are actually six diastereomers to which the name L-quercitol might apply. 

Figure 9.9 Assigning configuration to (a) (-)-glyceraldehyde and (b) ( r)-alanine. Both happen to have the Sconfiguration, although one is levorotatory and the other is dextrorotatory.

The answer is that Pasteur started with a 50 50 mixture of the two chiral tartaric acid enantiomers. Such a mixture is called a racemic (ray-see-mi c) mixture, or racemate, and is denoted either by the symbol ( ) or the prefix cl,I to indicate an equal mixture of dextrorotatory and levorotatory forms. Racemic mixtures show no optical rotation because the (+) rotation from one enantiomer exactly cancels the (-) rotation from the other. Through luck, Pasteur was able to separate, or resolve, racemic tartaric acid into its (-f) and (-) enantiomers. Unfortunately, the fractional crystallization technique he used doesn t work for most racemic mixtures, so other methods are needed. 

Levorotatory (Section 9.3) An optically active substance that rotates the plane of polarization of plane-polarized light in a left-handed (counterclockwise) direction. 

From intermediate 28, the construction of aldehyde 8 only requires a few straightforward steps. Thus, alkylation of the newly introduced C-3 secondary hydroxyl with methyl iodide, followed by hydrogenolysis of the C-5 benzyl ether, furnishes primary alcohol ( )-29. With a free primary hydroxyl group, compound ( )-29 provides a convenient opportunity for optical resolution at this stage. Indeed, separation of the equimolar mixture of diastereo-meric urethanes (carbamates) resulting from the action of (S)-(-)-a-methylbenzylisocyanate on ( )-29, followed by lithium aluminum hydride reduction of the separated urethanes, provides both enantiomers of 29 in optically active form. Oxidation of the levorotatory alcohol (-)-29 with PCC furnishes enantiomerically pure aldehyde 8 (88 % yield). 

Optically active (+)-(/ )-6,6 -dimethylbiphenyl-2,2 diamine gives levorotatory 1,11-dimethyl-5//-dibcnzo[r/,/][l,3]diazcpin-6(7//)-onc in this reaction.174... 

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