Lewis acids ester hydrolysis

Perhaps the most extensively studied catalytic reaction in acpreous solutions is the metal-ion catalysed hydrolysis of carboxylate esters, phosphate esters , phosphate diesters, amides and nittiles". Inspired by hydrolytic metalloenzymes, a multitude of different metal-ion complexes have been prepared and analysed with respect to their hydrolytic activity. Unfortunately, the exact mechanism by which these complexes operate is not completely clarified. The most important role of the catalyst is coordination of a hydroxide ion that is acting as a nucleophile. The extent of activation of tire substrate througji coordination to the Lewis-acidic metal centre is still unclear and probably varies from one substrate to another. For monodentate substrates this interaction is not very efficient. Only a few quantitative studies have been published. Chan et al. reported an equilibrium constant for coordination of the amide carbonyl group of... 

Under acidic conditions, furfuryl alcohol polymerizes to black polymers, which eventually become crosslinked and insoluble in the reaction medium. The reaction can be very violent and extreme care must be taken when furfuryl alcohol is mixed with any strong Lewis acid or Brn nstad acid. Copolymer resins are formed with phenoHc compounds, formaldehyde and/or other aldehydes. In dilute aqueous acid, the predominant reaction is a ring opening hydrolysis to form levulinic acid [123-76-2] (52). In acidic alcohoHc media, levulinic esters are formed. The mechanism for this unusual reaction in which the hydroxymethyl group of furfuryl alcohol is converted to the terminal methyl group of levulinic acid has recendy been elucidated (53). 

Another synthesis of the cortisol side chain from a C17-keto-steroid is shown in Figure 20. Treatment of a C3-protected steroid 3,3-ethanedyidimercapto-androst-4-ene-ll,17-dione [112743-82-5] (144) with a tnhaloacetate, 2inc, and a Lewis acid produces (145). Addition of a phenol and potassium carbonate to (145) in refluxing butanone yields the aryl vinyl ether (146). Concomitant reduction of the C20-ester and the Cll-ketone of (146) with lithium aluminum hydride forms (147). Deprotection of the C3-thioketal, followed by treatment of (148) with y /(7-chlotopetben2oic acid, produces epoxide (149). Hydrolysis of (149) under acidic conditions yields cortisol (29) (181). 

The highly ordered cyclic TS of the D-A reaction permits design of diastereo-or enantioselective reactions. (See Section 2.4 of Part A to review the principles of diastereoselectivity and enantioselectivity.) One way to achieve this is to install a chiral auxiliary.80 The cycloaddition proceeds to give two diastereomeric products that can be separated and purified. Because of the lower temperature required and the greater stereoselectivity observed in Lewis acid-catalyzed reactions, the best diastereoselectivity is observed in catalyzed reactions. Several chiral auxiliaries that are capable of high levels of diastereoselectivity have been developed. Chiral esters and amides of acrylic acid are particularly useful because the auxiliary can be recovered by hydrolysis of the purified adduct to give the enantiomerically pure carboxylic acid. Early examples involved acryloyl esters of chiral alcohols, including lactates and mandelates. Esters of the lactone of 2,4-dihydroxy-3,3-dimethylbutanoic acid (pantolactone) have also proven useful. 

The higher coordinating ability and Lewis acidity of Zn(H) ion in addition to the low pK of the metal-bound water molecule and the appearance of this metal ion in native phosphatases inspired a number of research groups to develop Zn(II)-containing dinuclear artificial phosphatases. In contrast, very few model compounds have been published to mimic the activity of Fe(III) ion in dinuclear centers of phosphatase enzymes. Cu(II) or lanthanide ions are not relevant to natural systems but their chemical properties in certain cases allow extraordinarily high acceleration of phosphate-ester hydrolysis [as much as 108 for copper(II) or 1013 for lanthanide(III) ions]. 

In the Sepracor synthesis of chiral cetirizine di hydrochloride (4), the linear side-chain as bromide 51 was assembled via rhodium octanoate-mediated ether formation from 2-bromoethanol and ethyl diazoacetate (Scheme 8). Condensation of 4-chlorobenzaldehyde with chiral auxiliary (/f)-f-butyl sulfinamide (52) in the presence of Lewis acid, tetraethoxytitanium led to (/f)-sulfinimine 53. Addition of phenyl magnesium bromide to 53 gave nse to a 91 9 mixture of two diastereomers where the major diasteromer 54 was isolated in greater than 65% yield. Mild hydrolysis conditions were applied to remove the chiral auxiliary by exposing 54 to 2 N HCl in methanol to provide (S)-amine 55. Bisalkylation of (S)-amine 55 with dichlonde 56 was followed by subsequent hydrolysis to remove the tosyl amine protecting group to afford (S)-43. Alkylation of (5)-piperizine 43 with bromide 51 produced (S)-cetirizine ethyl ester, which was then hydrolyzed to deliver (S)-cetirizine dihydrochloride, (5)-4. 

Concerning electrophilic side reactions, intramolecular Friedel-Crafts condensations have been reported for example, fluorenone is formed from 2-benzoylbenzenediazonium tetrafluorobo-rate.241 The strong Lewis acid boron trifluoride can also be responsible for side reactions, such as the extensive formation of tars from nitro-substituted arenediazonium tetrafluorobor-ates or the acidic hydrolysis of ester substituents, especially in the case of 2-(ethoxycar-bonyl)benzenediazonium tetrafluoroborate.105,242... 

An interesting correlation has been observed53 between the formation constant XCuL of the metal complex and its catalytic activity in a mixed ligand with an amino acid ester. Large values of XCUL (equation 13) lead to lower base hydrolysis rates in the ternary complex. The Lewis... 

Similarly to allylsilanes352, 1-allysilatrane (76) reacts with carbonyl compounds such as aldehydes, ketones or esters. Thus, treatment of 76 with aldehydes in the presence of TiCLt followed by hydrolysis afforded y,(5-unsaturated alcohols (equation 127). Allyl transfer is also catalyzed by other Lewis acids, such as AICI3 or BF3—OEt2, but the... 

Thus, many metal ions catalyze the hydrolysis of esters [7,8], amides [9], and nitriles [10] via electrophilic activation of the C=0 or C=N group. This type of catalysis is characteristic of coordination complexes and is very common in metalloenzyme-mediated processes. Zinc(II), for example, is a key structural component of more than 300 enzymes, in which its primary function is to act as a Lewis acid (see Chapter 4). The mechanism of action of zinc proteases, e.g., thermolysin, involves electrophilic activation of an amide carbonyl group by coordination to zinc(II) in the active site (Figure 4). 

A related reaction is the addition of isonitriles 75 to aldehydes 1 (the Passerini reaction). Denmark has demonstrated that SiCU, upon activation by a chiral Lewis base, which increased the Lewis acidity of the silicon (vide supra Scheme 7.14), can mediate this reaction to produce a-hydroxy amides 77 after aqueous work-up (Scheme 7.16). Phosphoramide 60 was employed as the chiral Lewis-basic catalyst [74]. Modification of the procedure for hydrolysis of 76 gives rise to the corresponding methyl ester (rather than the amide 77) [74]. (For experimental details see Chapter 14.5.5). 

Artificial enzymes with metal ions can also hydrolyze phosphate esters (alkaline phosphatase is such a natural zinc enzyme). We examined the hydrolysis of p-nitro-phenyfdiphenylphosphate (29) by zinc complex 30, and also saw that in a micelle the related complex 31 was an even more effective catalyst [118]. Again the most likely mechanism is the bifunctional Zn-OH acting as both a Lewis acid and a hydroxide nucleophile, as in many zinc enzymes. By attaching the zinc complex 30 to one or two cyclodextrins, we saw even better catalysis with these full enzyme mimics [119]. A catalyst based on 25 - in which a bound La3+ cooperates with H202, not water - accelerates the cleavage of bis-p-nitrophenyl phosphate by over 108-fold relative to uncatalyzed hydrolysis [120]. This is an enormous acceleration. 

Substitutionally inert Co(m) or Ir(m) complexes have been used to measure directly the effect of Lewis acid activation on the hydrolysis of an amide [35-37], a nitrile [38] and a phosphate triester [39] (Figure 6.4). The p/C, of the cobalt-bound water molecule in 5 is 6.6 [40], Thus the upper limit for the rate-acceleration due to Lewis acid activation with this metal in the hydrolysis of esters, amides, nitriles and phosphates should be close to 109-fold. Although the observed rate accelerations for the hydrolysis reac-... 

There have been a few reports of first generation coordination complex structural models for the phosphatase enzyme active sites (81,82), whereas there are some examples of ester hydrolysis reactions involving dinuclear metal complexes (83-85). Kim and Wycoff (74) as well as Beese and Steitz (80) have both published somewhat detailed discussions of two-metal ion mechanisms, in connection with enzymes involved in phosphate ester hydrolysis. Compared to fairly simple chemical model systems, the protein active site mechanistic situation is rather more complex, because side-chain residues near the active site are undoubtedly involved in the catalysis, i.e, via acid-base or hydrogenbonding interactions that either facilitate substrate binding, hydroxide nucleophilic attack, or stabilization of transition state(s). Nevertheless, a simple and very likely role of the Lewis-acidic metal ion center is to... 

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