Nitrosamine reduction

Reduction of a nitrosamine to a secondary amine. Proceed as for a nitro compound. Determine the solubility of the residue after evaporation of the ether and also its behaviour towards benzenesulphonyl (or p-toluenesulphonyl) chloride. 

Reactions. The chemistry of the /V-nitrosamines is extensive and will be only summarized here (8,35,42). Most of the reactions of the nitrosamines, with respect to thek biological or environmental behavior, involve one of two main reactive centers, either the nitroso group itself or the C—H bonds adjacent (a) to the amine nitrogen. The nitroso group can be removed readily by a reaction which is essentially the reverse of the nitrosation reaction, or by oxidation or reduction (68,69). 

N-Nitrosamines, formed principally from the reaction of naturally occurring secondary amines with nitrites that may be added to foods or produced by bacterial reduction of nitrates, have been identified in many food systems including cured meat products, nonfat dried milk, dried malt and beer. In addition, the presence of less volatile and non-volatile N-nitroso compounds or their precursors in foods have been suggested from a number of model system studies. 

Bacon, processed with 40 mg/kg of nitrite and 0.26 sorbate contained an average of 8.7 pg/kg of NPYR, whereas samples prepared with 120 mg/kg of nitrite contained an average of 28.1 yg/kg of NPYR. This marked reduction in NPYR levels is clearly due to the reduced levels of nitrite, although it has been reported that sorbic acid also possesses anti-N-nitrosamine activity (47). 

It has been shown in these studies that the principal, and probably only significant source of NDMA, is malt which had been dried by direct-fired drying (21, 73). It is well known that malts kilned by indirect firing have either low or non-detectable levels of NDMA (74). Consequently, changes in malting procedures have been implemented in both the U.S. and Canada which have resulted in marked reductions in N-nitrosamine levels in both malts and beer (70,74). For example, sulfur dioxide or products of sulfur combustion are now used routinely by all maltsters in the U.S. to minimize N-nitrosamine formation (70). The Canadian malting industry, on the other hand, has... 

Indeed, given an improperly designed or understood system, a blocking agent, like ascorbic acid, could be catalytic toward nitrosamine formation. For example, if the source of nitrosatlng agent is nitrite ion and the susceptible amine is in the lipid phase, conceivably ascorbic acid could cause the rapid reduction of nitrite ion to nitric oxide which could migrate to the lipid phase. Subsequent oxidation of NO to NO in the lipid phase could cause nitrosation. 

The complex pattern of human exposure to environmental N-nitroso compounds is summarized. Recent results are given in three areas, where a significant reduction of human exposure has been achieved after elucidation of its causes 1, N-Nitrosodimethylamine in beer. 2, Volatile N-nitrosamines in baby nipples and pacifiers and 3. occupational exposure in the rubber industry. 

In other working areas the reduction of airborne nitrosamines is possible, too. In a special curing process using a nitrite-nitrate salt bath for tube... 

We recently completed a new survey of 25 beers representing the same labels from similar markets in Oregon and found a mean value of 0.2 ppb, which is more than an order of magnitude lower than the original mean value. The reduction is a direct result of measures taken by the industry to reduce nitrosamine levels in beer. Reduction of nitrosamine levels in beer will be further discussed in the final section of this paper. 

In Tobacco. At the time of harvesting, fresh tobacco leaves do not contain measurable amounts of nitrosamines (<5 ppb). However, these compounds are formed during curing, aging and fermentation. Their concentrations depend primarily on the content of proteins, alkaloids, agricultural chemicals and nitrate in the tobacco, as well as on the processing conditions which lead to the reduction of the nitrates. 

Scavengers Inhibit nitrosamine formation by competing with the amine for the nltrosatlng agent. Ascorbic acid Is a typical exan le of the competition by rapid reduction of the nltrosatlng agent as shown. 

Chemically, nitrosamines are considered to be quite stable compounds and are difficult to destroy cmce they are formed. Reducing or destroying preformed nitrosamines in pesticides offers special challenge, as they occur in trace amounts which require specific selective treatment without effecting the composition of the principal product. Experimental laboratory work revealed that reactions suitable for mass quantities of reactants, that is neat samples, are not necessarily analagous to micro reactions for the reduction of a given trace nitrosamine contaminant or impurity. 

Eizember (1978) and Eizember et al (1979 and 1980) investigated other contingencies for the additional reduction of nitrosamine impurities in a wide variety of dinitroaniline analogs. Trifluralin is chosen as being typical of the dinitroanilines. 

Aromatic nitro and nitroso compounds are easily reduced at carbon and mercury electrodes. Other nitro compounds such as nitrate esters, nitramines, and nitrosamines are also typically easily reduced. The complete reduction of a nitro compound consists of three two-electron steps (nitro-nitroso-hydroxylamine-amine). Since most organic oxidations are only two-electron processes, higher sensitivity is typically found for nitro compounds. Several LCEC based determination of nitro compounds have been reported... 

Ascorbic acid has been found to be the most effective and useful inhibitor of amine nitrosation [23]. Ascorbic acid inhibits the formation of DMN from oxytetracycline and nitrite, and also from aminophenazone (aminopyrine) and nitrite. Tannins are present in a variety of foods, competing with secondary amines for nitrite and thus leading to a reduction in the amount of nitrosamine formed [24]. 

The syntheses of N-hydroxy-N-nitrosamines are usually carried out by the nitrosation of the corresponding N-hydroxyamines (Scheme 3.8) [123, 124]. N-Hydroxyamines are readily obtained by the reduction of the corresponding nitro-compounds. The most efficient methods are neutral or basic reactions. Recent applications of this method have resulted in the preparation of a variety of cupferron derivatives (Scheme 3.8) via nitrosation of phenylhydroxylamine with amyl nitrite/ammonia [125] or methyl nitrite/ammonia [126]. Behrend and Konig have shown that the organic... 

N,N-dialkylhydrazines 93, prepared either by reduction of nitrosamines 91 or by Hofmann degradation of ureas 92 [84] are cyanomethylated with aldehydes and... 

Chemical complexes of various transition metals have been shown to promote N-nitrosation (28). These metal complexes include ferrocyanide, ferricyanide, cupric ion, molybate ion, cobalt species, and mercuric acetate. All of the reactions are thought to proceed by oxidation-reduction mechanisms. However, such promotion may not be characteristic of transition metal complexes in general, since ferricyanide ion has been shown to promote nitrosation in metalworking fluids, whereas ferric EDTA does not (2 0). Since the metalworking operation generates metal chips and fines which build up in the fluids, this reaction could be of significance in the promotion of nitrosamine formation in water-based metalworking fluids. 

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