Serine racemization

Ai-Stearoylamino acids and their methyl esters were synthesized from enantiomeric and racemic forms of tyrosine, serine, alanine, and tryptophan (Fig. 16). Analogs of these molecules were investigated initially over 30 years ago by Zeelen and Havinga, who found stereochemical differentiation in the monolayer HjA isotherms of these materials (Zeelen, 1956 Zeelen and Havinga, 1958). We have extended this study using more sensitive Langmuir balances, a wider array of dynamic and equilibrium techniques, and the A-stearoyl methyl esters of the amino acids (Harvey et al., 1989 Harvey and Arnett, 1989). 

Figure 17 shows the 11/A isotherms of racemic and enantiomeric films of the methyl esters of 7V-stearoyl-serine, -alanine, -tryptophan, and -tyrosine on clean water at 25°C. Although there appears to be little difference between the racemic and enantiomeric forms of the alanine surfactants, the N-stearoyl-tyrosine, -serine, and -tryptophan surfactants show clear enantiomeric discrimination in their WjA curves. This chiral molecular recognition is first evidenced in the lift-off areas of the curves for the racemic versus enantiomeric forms of the films (Table 2). As discussed previously, the lift-off area is the average molecular area at which a surface pressure above 0.1 dyn cm -1 is first registered. The packing order differences in these films, and hence their stereochemical differentiation, are apparently maintained throughout the compression/expansion cycles. 

The discovery of oxazoline hydroxamates as potential inhibitors of LpxC was the result of high-throughput screening of large libraries of compounds at the Merck Research Laboratories in collaboration with the Department of Biochemistry, Duke University Medical Center [95]. The lead compound, L-573,655, was a racemic mixture of 4-carbohydroxamido-2-phenyl-2-oxazoline, which had been previously made by Stammer et al. [96] as a precursor in the chemical synthesis of cyclosporine. Namely, (R,S)-serine methyl ester hydrochloride (149) is converted into (R,S)-4-carbomethoxy-2-phenyl-2-oxazoline (150) via treatment with ethyl benzimidate using the Elliot procedure [97]. Treatment of this ester with one equivalent each of hydroxylamine and sodium methoxide in methanol at room temperature affords the desired (R,S)-4-carbohydroxamido-2-phenyl-2-oxazoline (151), as depicted in Scheme 30. 

Extractions of aqueous solutions of racemic amino-acid ester salts with solutions of / -6/s(dinaphthyl)-22-crown-6 [284] in chloroform revealed the dependence of the enantiomeric distribution constant on the structure of the amino acid ester (Table 64). In order to limit the concentrations of complex in the aqueous phase, inorganic salts were added. In the case of tyrosine, serine and alanine no extraction of salt was observed obviously these salts form very hydrophilic complexes. The highest degree of chiral recognition was found with [284] and p-hydroxyphenylglycine methyl ester hexafluorophosphate [A(AG°)... 

Many of the amino acids originally tested by Krebs were racemic mixtures. When naturally occurring L-amino acids became available the oxidase was found to be sterically restricted to the unnatural, D series. [D-serine occurs in worms free and as D-phosphoryl lombricine (Ennor, 1959)]. It could not therefore be the enzyme used in the liver to release NH3 in amino acid metabolism. D-amino acid oxidase was shown by Warburg and Christian (1938) to be a flavoprotein with FAD as its prosthetic group. A few years later Green found an L-amino acid oxidase in liver. It was however limited in its specificity for amino acid substrates and not very active—characteristics which again precluded its central role in deamination. 

A practical enzymatic procedure using alcalase as biocatalyst has been developed for the synthesis of hydrophilic peptides.Alcalase is an industrial alkaline protease from Bacillus licheniformis produced by Novozymes that has been used as a detergent and for silk degumming. The major enzyme component of alcalase is the serine protease subtilisin Carlsberg, which is one of the fully characterized bacterial proteases. Alcalase has better stability and activity in polar organic solvents, such as alcohols, acetonitrile, dimethylformamide, etc., than other proteases. In addition, alcalase has wide specificity and both l- and o-amino acids that are accepted as nucleophiles at the p-1 subsite. Therefore, alcalase is a suitable biocatalyst to catalyse peptide bond formation in organic solvents under kinetic control without any racemization of the amino acids (Scheme 5.1). 

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). 

ATP-dependent racemization, PHENYLALANINE RACEMASE ATP-dependent serine proteinase, PROTEASE La ATP depletion,... 

The checkers also prepared racemic 1-[N-benzyloxycarbonyl-(1 )-1-amino-2-hydroxyethyl]-4-methyl-2,6,7-trioxabicyclo[2.2.2]octane using the identical procedure (50% over 2 steps from racemic Cbz-serine purchased from Aldrich Chemical Company, Inc.). The enantiomeric ratio of the crystalline (S)-3 enantiomer (Note 20) was > 99.5 0.5 as determined by comparison with racemic 3 by courtesy of Mr. Eric Hortense (GlaxoSmithKline, Stevenage). Chiral HPLC (25 cm Chlracel OD-H, Column No ODHOCE-IF029, mobile phase ethanol/heptane 1 4 v/v, UV detector at 215 nm, flow rate... 

Alkaline hydrolysis (with NaOH, KOH or more seldom with Ba(OH)2) is almost exclusively applied for the determination of tryptophan and phosphoamino acids. Serine, threonine, arginine, and cysteine are completely destroyed by alkaline hydrolysis, while other amino acids are racemized [190]. Since racemization also occurs during acid hydrolysis, when it is important to... 

The application of CPO, HRP and CiP is limited to sterically unencumbered substrates and all these peroxidases produce the same absolute configuration of the chiral hydroperoxide. To overcome this limitation, the semisynthetic enzyme selenosubtilisin, a mimic for glutathione peroxidase, with the peptide framework of the serine protease subtilisin was developed by Bell and Hilvert. This semisynthetic peroxidase catalyzes the reduction of hydrogen peroxide and hydroperoxides in the presence of 5-mercapto-2-nitrobenzoic acid. It was utilized by Adam and coworkers and Schreier and coworkers for the kinetic resolution of racemic hydroperoxides (equation 17) . The results obtained were very promising. 

The authors applied the same synthetic strategy to racemic 4-alkyl -(iodo-methyl)-2-phenyl-5(4/ )-oxazolones 266 and obtained a diastereomeric mixture of oxazolines 267 and 268 (Scheme 7.86). The diastereoisomers were separated chromatographicaUy and then converted into dipeptides incorporating an a-alkyl-serine residue. ... 

Another direct approach to chiral polymeric stationary phases is the modification of commercially available polysiloxanes which contain reactive side groups. Thus, the diamide phase was linked to a modified XE-60 polysiloxane phase (Table 2). In one case (XE-60-L-Val-(/ or 5)-a-pea)124 another center of stereogenicity (R or S configuration) has been introduced in the amide group. An XE-60-L-Val-(S)-x-pea column was used for the enantiomer separation of racemic. V-rert-butoxycarbonyl amino acids after their methylation with diazomethane (serine and threonine as the O-trimethylsilyl derivatives) (Figure 12)124. 

Figure 12. Enantiomer separation of racemic A -rerf-butoxycarbonyl amino acids after lheir methylation with diazomethanc (serine and threonine as the C-trimethylsilyl derivatives) on XE-60-L-Val-(5)-a-pea (35 m fused silica capillary column, 100 180JC, 0.8 bar hydrogen)124. All D-enantiomers are eluted before the i.-enantiomers.

Pyridoxal phosphate is the coenzyme for the enzymic processes of transamination, racemization and decarboxylation of amino-acids, and for several other processes, such as the dehydration of serine and the synthesis of tryptophan that involve amino-acids (Braunstein, 1960). Pyridoxal itself is one of the three active forms of vitamin B6 (Rosenberg, 1945), and its biochemistry was established by 1939, in considerable part by the work of A. E. Braunstein and coworkers in Moscow (Braunstein and Kritzmann, 1947a,b,c Konikova et al 1947). Further, the requirement for the coenzyme by many of the enzymes of amino-acid metabolism had been confirmed by 1945. In addition, at that time, E. E. Snell demonstrated a model reaction (1) for transamination between pyridoxal [1] and glutamic acid, work which certainly carried with it the implication of mechanism (Snell, 1945). 

Naturally occurring Upases are (R)-selective for alcohols according to Kazlauskas rule [58, 59]. Thus, DKR of alcohols employing lipases can only be used to transform the racemic alcohol into the (R)-acetate. Serine proteases, a sub-class of hydrolases, are known to catalyze transesterifications similar to those catalyzed by lipases, but, interestingly, often with reversed enantioselectivity. Proteases are less thermostable enzymes, and for this reason only metal complexes that racemize secondary alcohols at ambient temperature can be employed for efficient (S)-selective DKR of sec-alcohols. Ruthenium complexes 2 and 3 have been combined with subtilisin Carlsberg, affording a method for the synthesis of... 

Cultures of Streptomyces rimosus var paromomycinus characteristically develop UV absorption at 240 and 278 nm due to formation of malonomicin (22), a compound that shows antiprotozoal activity towards Trypanosoma congolense, the causative agent of sleping sickness in cattle [42]. Malonomicin contains an unique aminomalonic acid unit that, on brief heating in water, undergoes decarboxylation and results in a compound devoid of biological activity [43]. Hydrolysis of the compound yielded L-serine and racemic aspartic acid. The structure was elucidated by chemical and spectroscopic methods [43,44] and was confirmed by total synthesis [45]. 

Beta-elimination reactions have been observed in a number of proteins. This reaction occurs primarily at alkaline pH conditions. Abstraction of the hydrogen atom from the alpha-carbon of a cysteine, serine, threonine, phenylalanine, or lysine residue leads to racemization or loss of part of the side chain and the formation of dehydroalanine (26). 

---