Pyrroline-5-carboxylic acid reduction

There is a. ccTtain amount of evi(l(Mic( that tlu semialdehydo of glutamic acid is the intermediate formy the loss of the 5-araino group of ornithine. This evidence is the isolation of what was presumed to be the 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazone of the semialdehyde upon partial oxidation of proline by the cyclophorase system. The glutamic acid semialdehyde can be expected to condense readily to pyrroline carboxylic acid, and reduction of this compound would yield proline (Fig. 2). 

Volume 75 concludes with six procedures for the preparation of valuable building blocks. The first, 6,7-DIHYDROCYCLOPENTA-l,3-DIOXIN-5(4H)-ONE, serves as an effective /3-keto vinyl cation equivalent when subjected to reductive and alkylative 1,3-carbonyl transpositions. 3-CYCLOPENTENE-l-CARBOXYLIC ACID, the second procedure in this series, is prepared via the reaction of dimethyl malonate and cis-l,4-dichloro-2-butene, followed by hydrolysis and decarboxylation. The use of tetrahaloarenes as diaryne equivalents for the potential construction of molecular belts, collars, and strips is demonstrated with the preparation of anti- and syn-l,4,5,8-TETRAHYDROANTHRACENE 1,4 5,8-DIEPOXIDES. Also of potential interest to the organic materials community is 8,8-DICYANOHEPTAFULVENE, prepared by the condensation of cycloheptatrienylium tetrafluoroborate with bromomalononitrile. The preparation of 2-PHENYL-l-PYRROLINE, an important heterocycle for the synthesis of a variety of alkaloids and pyrroloisoquinoline antidepressants, illustrates the utility of the inexpensive N-vinylpyrrolidin-2-one as an effective 3-aminopropyl carbanion equivalent. The final preparation in Volume 75, cis-4a(S), 8a(R)-PERHYDRO-6(2H)-ISOQUINOLINONES, il lustrates the conversion of quinine via oxidative degradation to meroquinene esters that are subsequently cyclized to N-acylated cis-perhydroisoquinolones and as such represent attractive building blocks now readily available in the pool of chiral substrates. 

Intramolecular Reactions of Alkynes with Carboxylic Acids, Alcohols, and Amines. Addition of carboxylic acids, alcohols, and amines to alkynes via oxypaUadation and aminopallada-tion proceeds with catalysis by Pd salts. Intramolecular additions are particularly facile. Unsaturated y-lactones are obtained by the treatment of 3-alkynoic acid and 4-alkynoic acid with Pd(PhCN)2Cl2 in THF in the presence of Et3N (eq 54), and -lactones are obtained from5-alkynoic acids. 5-Hydroxyalkynes are converted to the cyclic enol ethers (eq 55). The oxypalla-dation is a irons addition. Thus stereoselective enol ether formation by reaction of the alkynoic alcohol with Pd(PhCN)2Cl2, followed by reduction with ammonium formate, has been applied to the synthesis of prostacyclin (eq 56). Intramolecular addition of amines affords cyclic imines. 3-Alkynylamines are cyclized to 1-pyrrolines while 5-alkynylamines are converted to 2,3,4,5-tetrahydropyridines (eq 57). ... 

As a redox couple, proline and pyrroline-5-carboxylate provide a mechanism for the intercompartmental and intercellular transfer of redox potential. The transfer of redox potential alters the ratio of NADP /NADPH thereby activating certain metabolic pathways. Although the reduction of pyrroline-5-carboxylate is the central mechanism in the transfer of redox potential, the metabolic interconversions of proline, ornithine, and glutamate with pyrroline-5-carboxylate as the obligate intermediate also may play a role. The endpoint of this regulation appears to be the formation of purine ribonucleotides by both salvage and de novo mechanisms. Proline and pyrroline-5-carboxylate appear to be metabolic signals which can be fine-tuned by humoral factors to coordinate the metabolism of amino acids and ribonucleotides. When the transfer is from cell to cell, proline and pyrroline-5-carboxyl-ate can function as intercellular communicators. 

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