Racemization examples

PLP-dependent enzymes catalyze the following types of reactions (1) loss of the ce-hydrogen as a proton, resulting in racemization (example alanine racemase), cyclization (example aminocyclopropane carboxylate synthase), or j8-elimation/replacement (example serine dehydratase) (2) loss of the a-carboxylate as carbon dioxide (example glutamate decarboxylase) (3) removal/replacement of a group by aldol cleavage (example threonine aldolase and (4) action via ketimine intermediates (example selenocysteine lyase). 

A variety of chemical quenching studies provide no evidence of carbon configurational stability in a-lithiated phosphine oxides derived from racemic examples (99) and (100) and from single enantiomers (101) and (102), even under conditions of internal quenching at — 78°C where the timescale for inversion/ rotation is short. An even more soisitive probe for configurational stability is the Hoffmann test. Application of this test to phosphine oxide-stabilised anions has involved comparison of the diastereomeric ratio of products from the reaction of lithiated ethyldiphenyl-phosphine oxide with the racemic phenylala-... 

Thus, to name just a few examples, a nucleophilic aliphatic substitution such as the reaction of the bromide 3.5 with sodium iodide (Figure 3-21a) can lead to a range of stereochemical products, from a l l mbrture of 3.6 and 3.7 (racemization) to only 3.7 (inversion) depending on the groups a, b, and c that are bonded to the central carbon atom. The ring closure of the 1,3-butadiene, 3.8, to cyclobutene... 

The Cahn-Ingold-Prelog (CIP) rules stand as the official way to specify chirahty of molecular structures [35, 36] (see also Section 2.8), but can we measure the chirality of a chiral molecule. Can one say that one structure is more chiral than another. These questions are associated in a chemist s mind with some of the experimentally observed properties of chiral compounds. For example, the racemic mixture of one pail of specific enantiomers may be more clearly separated in a given chiral chromatographic system than the racemic mixture of another compound. Or, the difference in pharmacological properties for a particular pair of enantiomers may be greater than for another pair. Or, one chiral compound may rotate the plane of polarized light more than another. Several theoretical quantitative measures of chirality have been developed and have been reviewed elsewhere [37-40]. 

With the dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCQ reagent racemization is more pronounced in polar solvents such as DMF than in CHjCl2, for example. An efficient method for reduction of racemization in coupling with DCC is to use additives such as N-hydroxysuccinimide or l-hydroxybenzotriazole. A possible explanation for this effect of nucleophilic additives is that they compete with the amino component for the acyl group to form active esters, which in turn reaa without racemization. There are some other condensation agents (e.g. 2-ethyl-7-hydroxybenz[d]isoxazolium and l-ethoxycarbonyl-2-ethoxy-l,2-dihydroquinoline) that have been found not to lead to significant racemization. They have, however, not been widely tested in peptide synthesis. 

Many examples of stereospecific allylation consistent with the above mechanism have been reported. As one example, the regioselective and highly diastereoselective allylation of the lactone 17 with the optically active allylic phosphate 16 proceeded with no appreciable racemization of the allylic part to give the lactones l8 and 19, and the reaction has been used for the synthesis of a polypropionate chain[26]. 

In a second example addition of hydrogen bromide converts 2 butene which is achiral to 2 bromobutane which is chiral But as before the product is racemic because... 

When a reactant is chiral but optically inactive because it is racemic any products derived from its reactions with optically inactive reagents will be optically inactive For example 2 butanol is chiral and may be converted with hydrogen bromide to 2 bromo butane which is also chiral If racemic 2 butanol is used each enantiomer will react at the same rate with the achiral reagent Whatever happens to (/ ) (—) 2 butanol is mir rored m a corresponding reaction of (5) (+) 2 butanol and a racemic optically inactive product results... 

Section 7 16 Atoms other than carbon can be chirality centers Examples include those based on tetracoordmate silicon and Incoordinate sulfur as the chirality center In principle Incoordinate nitrogen can be a chirality center m compounds of the type N(x y z) where x y and z are different but inversion of the nitrogen pyramid is so fast that racemization occurs vrr tually instantly at room temperature... 

A novel technique for dating archaeological samples called ammo acid racemiza tion (AAR) IS based on the stereochemistry of ammo acids Over time the configuration at the a carbon atom of a protein s ammo acids is lost m a reaction that follows first order kinetics When the a carbon is the only chirality center this process corresponds to racemization For an ammo acid with two chirality centers changing the configuration of the a carbon from L to D gives a diastereomer In the case of isoleucme for example the diastereomer is an ammo acid not normally present m proteins called alloisoleucme... 

Although it might seem that adrninistration of enantiomericaHy pure substances would always be preferred, the diuretic indacrinone (3), is an example of a dmg for which one enantiomer mediates the harmful effects of the other enantiomer (4). (+)-Indacrinone, the diureticaHy active enantiomer or eutomer causes uric acid retention. Fortunately, the other enantiomer distomer) causes uric acid elimination. Thus, adrninistration of a mixture of the two enantiomers, although not necessarily racemic, may have therapeutic value. 

Chiral diene—iron tricarbonyl complexes were acylated using aluminum chloride to give acylated diene—iron complexes with high enantiomeric purity (>96% ee). For example, /ra/ j -piperjdene—iron tricarbonyl reacted with acyl haUdes under Friedel-Crafts conditions to give l-acyl-l,3-pentadiene—iron tricarbonyl complex without any racemization. These complexes can be converted to a variety of enantiomericaHy pure tertiary alcohols (180). 

Three general methods exist for the resolution of enantiomers by Hquid chromatography (qv) (47,48). Conversion of the enantiomers to diastereomers and subsequent column chromatography on an achiral stationary phase with an achiral eluant represents a classical method of resolution (49). Diastereomeric derivatization is problematic in that conversion back to the desired enantiomers can result in partial racemization. For example, (lR,23, 5R)-menthol (R)-mandelate (31) is readily separated from its diastereomer but ester hydrolysis under numerous reaction conditions produces (R)-(-)-mandehc acid (32) which is contaminated with (3)-(+)-mandehc acid (33). 

This procedure is restricted mainly to aminodicarboxyhc acids or diaminocarboxyhc acids. In the case of neutral amino acids, the amino group or carboxyl group must be protected, eg, by A/-acylation, esterification, or amidation. This protection of the racemic amino acid and deprotection of the separated enantiomers add stages to the overall process. Furthermore, this procedure requires a stoichiometric quantity of the resolving agent, which is then difficult to recover efficiendy. Practical examples of resolution by this method have been pubUshed (50,51). 

The primary disadvantage of the conjugate addition approach is the necessity of performing two chiral operations (resolution or asymmetric synthesis) ia order to obtain exclusively the stereochemicaHy desired end product. However, the advent of enzymatic resolutions and stereoselective reduciag agents has resulted ia new methods to efficiently produce chiral enones and CO-chain synthons, respectively (see Enzymes, industrial Enzymes in ORGANIC synthesis). Eor example, treatment of the racemic hydroxy enone (70) with commercially available porciae pancreatic Hpase (PPL) ia vinyl acetate gave a separable mixture of (5)-hydroxyenone (71) and (R)-acetate (72) with enantiomeric excess (ee) of 90% or better (204). 

It is generally beheved that selectivity of hydrolytic enzymes strongly depends on the proximity of the chiral center to the reacting carbonyl group, and only a few examples of successful resolutions exist for compounds that have the chiral center removed by more than three bonds. A noticeable exception to this rule is the enantioselective hydrolysis by Pseudomonasfluorescens Hpase (PEL) of racemic dithioacetal (5) that has a prochiral center four bonds away from the reactive carboxylate (24). The monoester (6) is obtained in 89% yield and 98% ee. 

Resolution of racemic alcohols by acylation (Table 6) is as popular as that by hydrolysis. Because of the simplicity of reactions ia nonaqueous media, acylation routes are often preferred. As ia hydrolytic reactions, selectivity of esterification may depend on the stmcture of the acylatiag agent. Whereas Candida glindracea Upase-catalyzed acylation of racemic-cx-methylhenzyl alcohol [98-85-1] (59) with butyric acid has an enantiomeric value E of 20, acylation with dodecanoic acid increases the E value to 46 (16). Not only acids but also anhydrides are used as acylatiag agents. Pseudomonasfl. Upase (PFL), for example, catalyzed acylation of a-phenethanol [98-85-1] (59) with acetic anhydride ia 42% yield and 92% selectivity (74). 

Amino alcohols can be resolved by a number of pathways including hydrolysis, esterification, and transesterification. For example, hydrolysis of Ai,0-diacet5l-2-amino-l-butanol with PPL followed by recrystallization results in (80a) with 95% ee (108). Hydrolysis of racemic acetates or butyrates of 2-[(aLkoxycarbonyl)amino]-l-aLkanols with PFL gives (R)-alcohol (81) with 95% ee (109). (3)-(81) can be obtained by transesterification of the racemic (81) with ethyl acetate which also serves as the reaction medium (109). 

Unprotected racemic amines can be resolved by enantioselective acylations with activated esters (110,111). This approach is based on the discovery that enantioselectivity of some enzymes strongly depends on the nature of the reaction medium. For example, the enantioselectivity factor (defined as the ratio of the initial rates for (3)- and (R)-isomers) of subtiHsin in the acylation of CX-methyl-ben zyl amine with tritiuoroethyl butyrate varies from 0.95 in toluene to 7.7 in 3-methyl-3-pentanol (110). The latter solvent has been used for enantioselective resolutions of a number of racemic amines (110). 

Although alcohol dehydrogenases (ADH) also catalyze the oxidation of aldehydes to the corresponding acids, the rate of this reaction is significantly lower. The systems that combine ADH and aldehyde dehydrogenases (EC 1.2.1.5) (AldDH) are much more efficient. For example, HLAD catalyzes the enantioselective oxidation of a number of racemic 1,2-diols to L-a-hydroxy aldehydes which are further converted to L-a-hydroxy acids by AldDH (166). 

Diaziridines also show slow nitrogen inversion, and carbon-substituted compounds can be resolved into enantiomers, which typically racemize slowly at room temperature (when Af-substituted with alkyl and/or hydrogen). For example, l-methyl-3-benzyl-3-methyl-diaziridine in tetrachloroethylene showed a half-life at 70 °C of 431 min (69AG(E)212). Preparative resolution has been done both by classical methods, using chiral partners in salts (77DOK(232)108l), and by chromatography on triacetyl cellulose (Section 5.08.2.3.1). 

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