Pyruvic acid reduction

Biological reduction of pyruvic acid catalyzed by the enzyme... 

Enzyme catalyzed reductions of carbonyl groups are more often than not com pletely stereoselective Pyruvic acid for example is converted exclusively to (5) (+) lactic acid by the lactate dehydrogenase NADH system (Section 15 11) The enantiomer... 

The enzyme is a single enantiomer of a chiral molecule and binds the coenzyme and substrate m such a way that hydride is transferred exclusively to the face of the carbonyl group that leads to (5) (+) lactic acid Reduction of pyruvic acid m the absence of an enzyme however say with sodium borohydride also gives lactic acid but as a racemic mixture containing equal quantities of the R and S enantiomers... 

Methylsuccinic acid has been prepared by the pyrolysis of tartaric acid from 1,2-dibromopropane or allyl halides by the action of potassium cyanide followed by hydrolysis by reduction of itaconic, citraconic, and mesaconic acids by hydrolysis of ketovalerolactonecarboxylic acid by decarboxylation of 1,1,2-propane tricarboxylic acid by oxidation of /3-methylcyclo-hexanone by fusion of gamboge with alkali by hydrog. nation and condensation of sodium lactate over nickel oxide from acetoacetic ester by successive alkylation with a methyl halide and a monohaloacetic ester by hydrolysis of oi-methyl-o -oxalosuccinic ester or a-methyl-a -acetosuccinic ester by action of hot, concentrated potassium hydroxide upon methyl-succinaldehyde dioxime from the ammonium salt of a-methyl-butyric acid by oxidation with. hydrogen peroxide from /9-methyllevulinic acid by oxidation with dilute nitric acid or hypobromite from /J-methyladipic acid and from the decomposition products of glyceric acid and pyruvic acid. The method described above is a modification of that of Higginbotham and Lapworth. ... 

In this scheme the reversible conversion of A to O is the reaction whose rate is to be studied, whereas the reduction of O to R is the electrode process. Scheme XIV can also represent a pseudo-first-order formation of O. A specific example is the acid-base equilibrium of pyruvic acid, shown in Scheme XV. 

Consider the pyruvic acid system in Scheme XV. Let HA and A represent pyruvic acid and pyruvate, respectively, and suppose the system is buffered. At a pH well below the pX of HA, a single polarographic wave characteristic of the reduction of HA is observed. At a pH well above the pX, a wave (at a much more reducing potential) is observed that is characteristic of the reduction of A. ... 

Now at some pH comparable to pK, two waves are observed, corresponding to the reduction of both HA and A. The currents are proportional to the concentrations of the electroreducible species. Because the pH and pK are known, the concentrations of HA and A in the bulk solution can be calculated. It is then found that the observed polarographic currents cannot be accounted for on tbe basis of the known bulk concentrations. It is concluded that the ratio of the concentrations at the electrode surface is different from the ratio of bulk concentrations, and this is a consequence of the coupling between the chemical and electrode processes. In the pyruvic acid system, HA can be converted to the hydroxy acid by the electrode... 

Catalytic reduction of the nitrile 79 in the presence of semicarbazide affords initially the semicarbazone of 80. Hydrolysis-interchange, for example in the presence of pyruvic acid, gives the aldehyde 80. Condensation with the half ester of malonic acid leads to the acrylic ester 81 the double bond is then removed by means of catalytic reduction (82). Base catalyzed reaction of the... 

Yet a third method for the synthesis of a-amino acids is by reductive amination of an a-keto acid with ammonia and a reducing agent. Alanine, for instance, is prepared by treatment of pyruvic acid with ammonia in the presence of NaBH As described in Section 24.6, the reaction proceeds through formation of an intermediate imine that is then reduced. 

Some sugar residues in bacterial polysaccharides are etherified with lactic acid. The biosynthesis of these involves C)-alkylation, by reaction with enol-pyruvate phosphate, to an enol ether (34) of pyruvic acid, followed by reduction to the (R) or (5) form of the lactic acid ether (35). The enol ether may also react in a different manner, giving a cyclic acetal (36) of pyruvic acid. 

Summarizing the results obtained by controlled potential electrolysis and polarography, the reaction process for the electrolytic evolution of CO2 was estimated to be as follows the first step was one electron transfer from DMFC in NB to FMN in W as in Eq. (7). The second step was the catalytic reduction of O2 by FMNH as in Eq. (8). The final step was the oxidation of pyruvic acid by the reduction product of O2, H2O2, in W as in Eq. (9), well-known as an oxidative decarboxylation of a-keto acids [43] ... 

Recently, Borner and coworkers described an efficient Rh-deguphos catalyst for the reductive amination of a-keto acids with benzyl amine. E.e.-values up to 98% were obtained for the reaction of phenyl pyruvic acid and PhCH2COCOOH (entry 4.9), albeit with often incomplete conversion and low TOFs. Similar results were also obtained for several other a-keto acids, and also with ligands such as norphos and chiraphos. An interesting variant for the preparation of a-amino acid derivatives is the one-pot preparation of aromatic a-(N-cyclohexyla-mino) amides from the corresponding aryl iodide, cyclohexylamine under a H2/ CO atmosphere catalyzed by Pd-duphos or Pd-Trost ligands [50]. Yields and ee-values were in the order of 30-50% and 90 >99%, respectively, and a catalyst loading of around 4% was necessary. 

For example, pyruvic acid on reduction yields a dl mixture of lactic acid. 

In the reduction of the > C = 0 group of pyruvic acid by hydrogen in presence of nickel catalyst, the reaction rate by the two paths is the same and so the d and 1 forms are obtained in equal amounts. 

As we have seen a stereoselective reaction is one in which there is a preponderance of one isomer irrespective of the stereochemistry of the reactant. The enzymatic reduction of pyruvic acid is stereoselective when the chiral molecules of the enzyme complexes with achiral pyruvic acid, they given a preponderance of one form of pyruvic acid-enzyme complex which then gives a single form of lactic acid. 

On the other hand a stereospecific reaction is one in which a particular stereoisomeric form of the reactant reacts to give a stereoisomeric form of the product. The enzymatic reduction of pyruvic acid is not stereospecific because the reactant can not existin stereoisomeric form. Therefore, all reactions that are stereospecific are necessarily stereoselective but not all stereoselective reactions are stereospecific. 

A pH-dependent chemoselective catalytic reductive amination of a-keto acids, affording a-amino acids with HCOONH4 in water, was achieved using the complex 31 or its precursor 28 as the catalyst [51]. The formation rates of alanine and lactic acid from pyruvic acid exhibited a maximum value around pH 5 and pH 3, respectively, and therefore, alanine was obtained quite selectively (96%) with a small amount of lactic acid (4%) at pH 5 (Scheme 5.18). A variety of nonpolar, uncharged polar and charged polar amino acids were also synthesized in high yields. 

In marked contrast, nature s reducing agent, reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH), delivers hydride in a stereospecific manner because it is a cofactor in an enzyme-catalysed reaction. For example, reduction of pyruvic acid to lactic acid in vertebrate muscle occurs via attack of hydride to produce just one enantiomer, namely (5)-lactic acid. 

It can now be seen that, in the enzymic reduction of pyruvic acid to lactic acid, hydride is delivered to the Re face of the pyruvic acid. 

In contrast, amino acid dehydrogenases comprise a well-known class of enzymes with industrial apphcations. An illustrative example is the Evonik (formerly Degussa) process for the synthesis of (S)-tert-leucine by reductive amination of trimethyl pyruvic acid (Scheme 6.12) [27]. The NADH cofactor is regenerated by coupling the reductive amination with FDH-catalyzed reduction of formate, which is added as the ammonium salt. 

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