Nomenclature of amides

The simplest structure of amides is that in which the nitrogen is bonded to two hydrogen atoms. In order to name these, use the name of the carboxylic acid from which the amide is derived but replace the -ic or -ole suffix with -amide. 

When naming secondary and tertiary amides, the groups attached to the (-NH2) group are indicated by the prefix N-, and these group names prefix the name of the corresponding primary amide.  

---

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. 

We observed that cyclic esters (lactones) may be formed when the carboxyl electrophile and hydroxyl nucleophile are in the same molecule (see Section 7.9.1). Similarly, cyclic amides are produced when carboxyl and amine groups are in the same molecule, and are again most favoured when this results in the generation of strain-free five- or six-membered rings. Cyclic esters are termed lactones, whereas cyclic amides are in turn called lactams. The nomenclature of lactams is similar... 

In Chapter 9 you see the basic structure of each of the carboxylic acids and Ccirboxylic acid derivatives. In this chapter we focus on the carboxylic acids and related compounds, such as esters, acyl chlorides, and acid anhydrides, and we also include some information on amides (see Chapter 13 for an additional examination of cimides). Before you can get into synthesis and reactions, though, you need to understand the structure and nomenclature of these compounds. 

Substrate specificity. Like most other enzymes, proteases display distinct preferences for certain substrates. These are often discussed using the nomenclature of Fig. 12-14. The substrate residue contributing the carbonyl of the amide group to be cleaved is designated Pj and residues toward the N terminus as P2, P3, etc., as is shown in Fig. 12-14. Residues toward the C terminus from the peptide linkage to be cleaved are designated P P etc. Chymotrypsin acts... 

Due to the good nucleophilic nature of sulfur, formation of new C—S bonds is relatively easy. This property has been used for intramolecular peptide cyclization 1 and was exploited for preparation of methylenethio ether surrogates, t >[CH2—S], initially as peptide gap inhibitors for blocking collagenase action. 2 These surrogates were later converted into sulfoxide and sulfone derivatives. This expansion of amide replacements compelled a more generalized nomenclature system for pseudopeptides (amides with one or more amide bond surrogates) and led directly to the psi-bracket convention. 1 ... 

The subject of glycosylamines has already been reviewed in this Series,80 and the nomenclature of these compounds, formerly called JV-glycosides, amides, anilides, etc., was discussed. 

Secondary and tertiary amines, which have two and three substituents on nitrogen, commonly are named as N-substituted amines. As for substituted amides, N is included to indicate that the substituent is on the nitrogen atom unless there is no ambiguity as to where the substituent is located. Systematic nomenclature of secondary and tertiary amines is related to the systematic ether nomenclature discussed in Section 7-3 ... 

Z/E isomerism is not limited to true double bonds and may be used when sp2 electrons of a heteroatom are conjugated with a 7r-system to form a planar pseudo double bond. In particular, in the case of amides, the cis isomer is called E. Although the general tendency now is to use the E/Z nomenclature in chemistry, despite their inaccuracy cis and trans are still utilized by biochemists because they give a more readily understandable description of molecular shape, in particular for amides in peptides and proteins. When the chains are connected through a motif containing more than three dihedral angles (i.e. carbamates), the syn-anti... 

---