Strecker-cyanohydrin synthesis

Strecker-cyanohydrin synthesis the synthesis of amino acids from aldehydes, HCN and NH3 in the presence of an aqueous fluid. 

The most general methods for the syntheses of 1,2-difunctional molecules are based on the oxidation of carbon-carbon multiple bonds (p. 117) and the opening of oxiranes by hetero atoms (p. 123fl.). There exist, however, also a few useful reactions in which an a - and a d -synthon or two r -synthons are combined. The classical polar reaction is the addition of cyanide anion to carbonyl groups, which leads to a-hydroxynitriles (cyanohydrins). It is used, for example, in Strecker s synthesis of amino acids and in the homologization of monosaccharides. The ff-hydroxy group of a nitrile can be easily substituted by various nucleophiles, the nitrile can be solvolyzed or reduced. Therefore a large variety of terminal difunctional molecules with one additional carbon atom can be made. Equally versatile are a-methylsulfinyl ketones (H.G. Hauthal, 1971 T. Durst, 1979 O. DeLucchi, 1991), which are available from acid chlorides or esters and the dimsyl anion. Carbanions of these compounds can also be used for the synthesis of 1,4-dicarbonyl compounds (p. 65f.). 

An interesting variation of the cyanohydrin synthesis is based on the application of the Strecker reaction 118], or an appropriate modification of it, to protected dialdo sugars to give glycosyl a-aminonitriles, with good levels of diastereoselectivity (ds > 90%) [19]. This approach was employed for a formal synthesis of the amino octose lincosamine from... 

Similar to the cyanohydrin synthesis for hydroxy acids is the Strecker synthesis of amino acids. Aldehydes and ketones are converted to a-amino cyanides by ammonia and hydrogen cyanide or by aqueous ammonium chloride and sodium cyanide solutions. Amino cyanides may also be obtained by the action of gaseous ammonia on cyanohydrins (cf. method 391). The preparation of DL-alanine (60%) is typical. "... 

A modification of the cyanohydrin synthesis is provided by Strecker s amino acid synthesis, in which an <%-amino nitrile is obtained by the action of hydrogen cyanide and ammonia on an aldehyde or ketone ... 

STRECKER Ammoacidsynthesis Synthesis of a-amino acids from aldehydes or ketones via cyanohydrins... 

Miller (1953) demonstrated that the most plausible mechanism for the production of amino acids in his experiment was a Strecker or cyanohydrin synthesis. In later work it has become clear that parallel reaction pathways are possible, an addition of HCN to an aldehyde to produce the hydroxy-nitrile ... 

The classical Strecker-type synthesis involving the addition of cyanide to aldehydes, ammonolysis of the cyanohydrin, and hydrolysis of the nitrile, yields racemates. More reactive than the cyanide anion are the azolactones for aromatic aldehydes or acetamido-malonate anions for Michael additions or alkylations (Scheme 9.3.1). 

In this chapter, remarkable advances in the research devoted to peptide catalysed alcohol esterifications, 1,4-conjugate additions, aldol reactions, Strecker synthesis, asymmetric cyanohydrin synthesis and alkene epoxida-tion are discussed. 

Inspired by the work of Inoue, Lipton and coworkers replaced the imidazole side chain of t icZo-peptide 50, which was efficient as catalyst in cyanohydrin synthesis from aldehydes (Scheme 13.29), with a more basic guanidine moiety in order to afford a catalyst capable of accelerating proton transfer in the Strecker reaction. The modified catalyst 52 was found to be effective in the synthesis of a-amino nitriles with very high yields from aromatic and aliphatic M-benzhydiyl imines, giving enantioselectivities of up to 99% (Scheme 13.30). ... 

Since the introduction of the first peptide organocatalyst in the 1980s, a considerable number of new peptide frameworks have been developed that are able to effectively catalyse several important transformations including alcohol esterifications, 1,4-conjugate additions, aldol reactions, Strecker synthesis, asymmetric cyanohydrin synthesis and alkene epoxidation are discussed. A few successful examples of solid-supported peptides and reactions in ball milling under solvent-free conditions have been demonstrated. These methods combine the advantages of being economically and environmentally friendly processes. 

Historically these compounds have been made in two-step processes. Eor smaller volumes, reaction of an appropriate ketone or aldehyde with a cyanide salt followed by treatment with an ammonium salt proves satisfactory (Strecker synthesis). Eor larger volumes, treatment of the ketone or aldehyde with HCN to produce a cyanohydrin, followed by treatment with ammonia has been practiced. However, in 1990, DuPont began practicing a new one-step... 

Miscellaneous Reactions. Sodium bisulfite adds to acetaldehyde to form a white crystalline addition compound, insoluble in ethyl alcohol and ether. This bisulfite addition compound is frequendy used to isolate and purify acetaldehyde, which may be regenerated with dilute acid. Hydrocyanic acid adds to acetaldehyde in the presence of an alkaU catalyst to form cyanohydrin the cyanohydrin may also be prepared from sodium cyanide and the bisulfite addition compound. Acrylonittile [107-13-1] (qv) can be made from acetaldehyde and hydrocyanic acid by heating the cyanohydrin that is formed to 600—700°C (77). Alanine [302-72-7] can be prepared by the reaction of an ammonium salt and an alkaU metal cyanide with acetaldehyde this is a general method for the preparation of a-amino acids called the Strecker amino acids synthesis. Grignard reagents add readily to acetaldehyde, the final product being a secondary alcohol. Thioacetaldehyde [2765-04-0] is formed by reaction of acetaldehyde with hydrogen sulfide thioacetaldehyde polymerizes readily to the trimer. 

Hydroxyl Group. The OH group of cyanohydrins is subject to displacement with other electronegative groups. Cyanohydrins react with ammonia to yield amino nitriles. This is a step in the Strecker synthesis of amino acids. A one-step synthesis of a-amino acids involves treatment of cyanohydrins with ammonia and ammonium carbonate under pressure. Thus acetone cyanohydrin, when heated at 160°C with ammonia and ammonium carbonate for 6 h, gives a-aminoisobutyric acid [62-57-7] in 86% yield (7). Primary and secondary amines can also be used to displace the hydroxyl group to obtain A/-substituted and Ai,A/-disubstituted a-amino nitriles. The Strecker synthesis can also be appHed to aromatic ketones. Similarly, hydrazine reacts with two molecules of cyanohydrin to give the disubstituted hydrazine. 

Like the Strecker synthesis, the Ugi reaction also involves a nucleophilic addition to an imine as the crucial step in which the stereogenic center of an a-amino acid derivative is formed4. The Ugi reaction, also denoted as a four-component condensation (A), is related to the older Passerini reaction5 (B) in an analogous fashion as the Strecker synthesis is to cyanohydrin formation. In both the Ugi and the Passerini reaction, an isocyanide takes the role of cyanide. 

Since the key thermal rearrangement was optimized, we turned our attention to earlier steps. The synthesis of amidoxime 7 was optimized from acetone cyanohydrin 4 (Scheme 6.6). The original Strecker reaction was carried out with ammonia... 

Remarks on Sections 6 and 7.-—The method here described for the synthesis of cyanohydrins—treatment of the bisulphite compound of the aldehyde with potassium cyanide—cannot be used in all cases. Concentrated solutions of hydrocyanic acid or anhydrous hydrogen cyanide are often used. The general method for the synthesis of a-amino-acids, the nitriles of which are formed by the union of ammonium cyanide with aldehydes or ketones (Strecker), is to be contrasted with that for the synthesis of a-hydroxy acids. For additional amino-acid syntheses see Chap. VII. 2, p. 276. 

Scheme 3.23 Asymmetric Strecker synthesis using a-amido sulfones with acetone cyanohydrin.

The duration of the reaction time alone determines whether carbonyl compounds, sodium cyanide and ammonium chloride will generate a cyanohydrin (Figure 9.9, top) or an a-aminonitrile (Figure 9.9, bottom). We are already familiar with the first reaction pattern from the initial reaction of the three-step Kiliani-Fischer synthesis of aldoses (Figure 7.15). The second reaction pattern initiates the Strecker synthesis of a-amino acids, which is completed by a total hydrolysis of the C=N group, as in the Bucherer modification discussed elsewhere (Figure 7.11). 

This reaction proceeds by initial reaction of ammonium chloride with the aldehyde to form an imine (see Section 18.8). Then cyanide adds to the imine in a reaction that is exactly analogous to the addition of cyanide to an aldehyde to form a cyanohydrin (see Section 18.4). The final step in the Strecker synthesis is the hydrolysis of the nitrile to a carboxylic acid (see Section 19.5). 

Aldehydes, ketones, and acetals react with allyltrimethylsilane in the presence of a catalytic amount of BiX3 (X = C1, Br, OTf) to give homoallyl alcohols or homoallyl alkyl ethers (Equation (52)).91-93 The BiX3-catalyzed allylation of aldehydes and sequential intramolecular etherification of the resulting homoallylic silyl ethers are involved in the stereoselective synthesis of polysubstituted tetrahydropyrans (Equation (53)).94,95 Similarly, these Lewis acids catalyze the cyanation of aldehydes and ketones with cyanotrimethylsilane. When a chiral bismuth(m) catalyst is used in the cyanation, cyanohydrines are obtained in up to 72% ee (Equation (54)). a-Aminonitriles are prepared directly from aldehydes, amines, and cyanotrimethysilane by the BiCl3-catalyzed Strecker-type reaction. 

The Strecker synthesis can form a large number of amino acids from appropriate aldehydes. The mechanism is shown next. First, the aldehyde reacts with ammonia to give an imine. The imine is a nitrogen analogue of a carbonyl group, and it is electrophilic when protonated. Attack of cyanide ion on the protonated imine gives the a-amino nitrile. This mechanism is similar to that for formation of a cyanohydrin (Section 18-14), except that in the Strecker synthesis cyanide ion attacks an imine rather than the aldehyde itself. 

The Strecker synthesis occurs by initial reaction of the aldehyde weth ammonia to give an imirte intermediate (Section Ld.9), which then adds HCX ir> a nucleof ilrc aridition step similar to what occurs in cyanohydrin formation (Section 16.7). The o amino nitrile that results undergnes hydml-ysts in the usual way (Section 21.SX... 

An amino nitrile may be formed instead of a cyanohydrin if the carbonyl compound is treated with aqueous ammonium chloride and sodium cyanide. Hydrolysis of the amino nitrile gives an a-amino acid as in the Strecker synthesis of r>L-alanine (Scheme 3.46). 

Mechanism 28.1 for the formation of the a-amino nitrile from an aldehyde (the first step in the Strecker synthesis) consists of two parts nucleophilic addition of NH3 to form an imine, followed by addition of cyanide to the C=N bond. Both parts are related to earlier mechanisms involving imines (Section 21.11) and cyanohydrins (Section 21.9). 

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