Ester methanolysis

Hydroxylaminolysis, treatment with stronger alkali (0.5 m NaOH, 2 h, 100°C) and alkaline methanolysis (0.25 m NaOMe, 1 h, 50°C) lead to complete O-deacylation of LPS and lipid A (176). Particularly in the case of alkaline methanolysis, ester-linked 3-acyloxyacyl residues undergo, in addition to transmethylation, a -elimination reaction, whereby the (R)-3-hy-droxy fatty acid ester is first transformed into the a,/ -unsaturated and then into the (S.-R -methoxy fatty acid methyl ester. The acyl substituent, on the other hand, is eliminated in the form of the free fatty acid (176). In fact, the presence of a 3-methoxyacyl derivative in the fatty acid spectrum of a given LPS is a strong indication for the presence of an ester-bound 3-acyloxyacyl... 

The related serine derived (4S)-4-methoxycarbonyl-3-(l-oxopropyl)-2-thiono-l,3-oxazolidine 11, and the cysteine derived (4A)-4-methoxycarbonyl-3-(l-oxobntyl)-2-thiono-1,3-thiazolidine 13, also serve as efficient chiral auxiliaries in boron- and tin(II)-mediated aldol condensations98. Thus, conversion of 11 into the boron or tin enolate, followed by reaction with 2-methylpropanal affords predominantly one adduct. Subsequent methanolysis and chromatographic purification delivers the syu-methyl ester in 98% ee. 

An entry to. yyrt-2-methoxy-3-hydroxycarboxylic acids is also opened using similar methodology. Thus the norephedrine derived (4/ ,5S)-3-(2-methoxy-l-oxoethyl)-4-methyl-5-phenyl-1,3-oxazolidine-2-one 23105a, as well as the phenylalanine derived (4S)-4-benzyl-3-(2-methoxy-l-oxoethyl)-l,3-oxazolidin-2-one 25105b, can be added to aldehydes via the boron enolates to give, after oxidative workup, the adducts in a stereoselective manner (d.r. 96 4, main product/sum of all others). Subsequent methanolysis affords the methyl esters. 

The transformation of l-methylthio-l-(methylsulfonyl)alkanes (254) to methyl esters can be efficiently carried out by oxidation or by a-chlorination followed by methanolysis (equation 152)145. The lithium or the sodium salt of (phenylsulfonyl)nitromethane (256) is a very useful reagent for the preparation of higher homologues of nitromethanes by alkylation since the salts are air insensitive, non-hygroscopic, and easily handled without decomposition. The oxidation of the resulting secondary a-nitro sulfone (257) gives... 

Lipase-catalyzed methanolysis of racemic N-benzyloxycarbonyl (Cbz) amino acid trifluoroethyl esters carrying aliphatic side chains afforded the L-methyl esters and the D-trifluoromethyl esters (Figure 6.16). The released alcohol (CF3CH2OH) is a weak nucleophile that cannot attack the ester product. The nucleophilidty of the leaving group is depleted by the presence of an electron-withdrawing group [63]. 

Alkyl esters are efficiently dealkylated to trimethylsilyl esters with high concentrations of iodotrimethylsilane either in chloroform or sulfolane solutions at 25-80° or without solvent at 100-110°.Hydrolysis of the trimethylsilyl esters serves to release the carboxylic acid. Amines may be recovered from O-methyl, O-ethyl, and O-benzyl carbamates after reaction with iodotrimethylsilane in chloroform or sulfolane at 50—60° and subsequent methanolysis. The conversion of dimethyl, diethyl, and ethylene acetals and ketals to the parent aldehydes and ketones under aprotic conditions has been accomplished with this reagent. The reactions of alcohols (or the corresponding trimethylsilyl ethers) and aldehydes with iodotrimethylsilane give alkyl iodides and a-iodosilyl ethers,respectively. lodomethyl methyl ether is obtained from cleavage of dimethoxymethane with iodotrimethylsilane. 

To obtain this compound the key step consisted in the epimerization of the C-5 in compound 6. This was acomplished by triflation of the alcohol 6 and nucleophilic substitution of the triflate by a large excess of tetrabutylammonium acetate in dichloromethane. A controlled (4 °C, 3 h) basic methanolysis of the enol benzoate led to the keto-ester 11" whose hydroxyl functions at C-4 and C-6 were simultaneously deprotected under acidic conditions to furnish 12. Finally a Zemplen deprotection of the 5-acetoxy group led to 13 obtained in five steps and 11% overall yield from 6 (figure 4). 

Scheme 2.6 shows some examples of the use of chiral auxiliaries in the aldol and Mukaiyama reactions. The reaction in Entry 1 involves an achiral aldehyde and the chiral auxiliary is the only influence on the reaction diastereoselectivity, which is very high. The Z-boron enolate results in syn diastereoselectivity. Entry 2 has both an a-methyl and a (3-benzyloxy substituent in the aldehyde reactant. The 2,3-syn relationship arises from the Z-configuration of the enolate, and the 3,4-anti stereochemistry is determined by the stereocenters in the aldehyde. The product was isolated as an ester after methanolysis. Entry 3, which is very similar to Entry 2, was done on a 60-kg scale in a process development investigation for the potential antitumor agent (+)-discodermolide (see page 1244). 

Many mechanistic aspects of the hydrolysis of phosphate esters in protic media remain uncertain. In spite of predictions that racemization at phosphorus should be the final outcome if indeed the (hypothetical) metaphosphate intermediate is involved in the solvolysis of monoesters, the results of several studies on the methanolysis of appropriately O-isotopically labelled compounds are consistent with reactions proceeding with inversion of configuration, as observed for all enzymic and non-enzymic systems so far examined this has resulted in the suggestion that if metaphosphate is actually formed, then it must be in a masked form. 

Both Z and E isomeric enol lactones undergo photoisomerization to yield mixtures of isomers (5,14,87) in which the thermodynamically more stable one prevails. It is the Z form in hydrastine series (5) and the E isomer in the more hindered narcotine series (87). Relative stabilities of isomeric enol lactones (98 versus 99 and 101 versus 102) were determined by comparing their rates of methanolysis. Keto esters of type 126 were formed (87). It turned out that both ( )-N-methylhydrastine enol lactone (99) and (Z)-narceine enol lactone (101) solvolyzed faster than their geometric partners. 

Kostic et al. recently reported the use of various palladium(II) aqua complexes as catalysts for the hydration of nitriles.456 crossrefil. 34 Reactivity of coordination These complexes, some of which are shown in Figure 36, also catalyze hydrolytic cleavage of peptides, decomposition of urea to carbon dioxide and ammonia, and alcoholysis of urea to ammonia and various carbamate esters.420-424, 427,429,456,457 Qggj-jy palladium(II) aqua complexes are versatile catalysts for hydrolytic reactions. Their catalytic properties arise from the presence of labile water or other solvent ligands which can be displaced by a substrate. In many cases the coordinated substrate becomes activated toward nucleophilic additions of water/hydroxide or alcohols. New palladium(II) complexes cis-[Pd(dtod)Cl2] and c - Pd(dtod)(sol)2]2+ contain the bidentate ligand 3,6-dithiaoctane-l,8-diol (dtod) and unidentate ligands, chloride anions, or the solvent (sol) molecules. The latter complex is an efficient catalyst for the hydration and methanolysis of nitriles, reactions shown in Equation (3) 435... 

The stereochemistry of each enantiomer separated by the chiral HPLC has been studied after methanolysis of the epoxy ring. Examining the H NMR data of esters of the produced methoxyalcohols with (S)- and (R)-a-methoxy-a-(tri-fluoromethyl) phenylacetic acid by a modified Mosher s method [181], it has been indicated that the earlier eluting parent epoxides are (3S,4R)-, (6S,7R)-, and (9R,10S)-isomers (Table 7) [75, 76, 179]. The above three chiral HPLC columns show different resolution abilities but a different elution order is not observed. The resolution profile by the reversed-phase OJ-R column has been generalized with molecular shapes of the epoxy compounds considering the... 

Chemolysis of ester bonds is performed by hydrolysis or methanolysis. Acidic metha-nolysis, for 24 h at 80 °C, cleaves ester bonds by transesterification, obtaining the fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs), and has been used to simultaneously study oils, waxes, tannins, resins and polysaccharides in samples collected from embalming materials from Egyptian mummies [17]. Transesterification with trimethyl sulfonium hydroxide in methanol is also used [33,34],... 

The GC-MS chromatogram obtained with the same substance after acid methanolysis and silylation is presented in Figure 10.10. The major compounds are fatty acid methyl esters corresponding to a mixture of an animal fat (attested by the presence of E15 0 and E17 0 with ante and iso isomers) and castor oil (attested by the presence of methyl ricinoleate E18 1,120H) [32]. Diterpenoid or triterpenoid resin components are not observed. 

The initial study of the La3 +-catalyzed methanolysis of carboxylate esters163 reported the apparent second-order rate constant for La2 + ( OCH3)2-catalyzed methanolysis of some representative examples of aryl esters (2, 5 and 2,4-dinitrophenyl acetate (14)), phenyl benzoate (15) and three aliphatic esters, ethyl acetate, isopropyl acetate (16) and tert-butyl acetate (17). Given in Table 6 are the rate constants for the La3+ and methoxide-catalyzed methanolysis of these esters along with... 

Table 6 Maximal second-order rate constants for (La3+)2(CH30 )2-catalyzed methanolysis and second-order rate constants for methoxide attack on various esters, T = 25 °C...

Methanolysis rates for esters 2, 14, 5, 15 determined by UV kinetics in CH3OH ethyl acetate, 16, 17 determined by [H NMR in d4-methanol. 

Table 7 Second-order rate constants for the methanolysis of esters 18, 19 promoted by methoxide, 9 Zn2 + COCH3) and Lal + ( OCH3)2 at 25 °C...

Fig. 4 A Bronsted plot of log pKz phenol in methanol vs. log fcaa fn( OCH3-) for methanolysis of aryl acetates promoted by 9 Zn2 + ( OCH3), T = 25°C, data in Table 7. Dashed line corresponds to NLLSQ fit of data to Equation (15) encompassing all esters with Pi = -0.023 0.03 and f 2 = -0.690 0.005 with a breakpoint of pJTa H = 14.8. Reproduced from ref. 16f with permission.

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