Strecker modifications

In a modification of the original method. Read (60) replaced a-amino acids with a-amino nitriles. This reaction is sometimes known as Strecker hydantoin synthesis, the term referring to the reaction employed for the synthesis of the a-amino nitrile from an aldehyde or ketone. The cycli2ation intermediate (18) has been isolated in some cases (61), and is involved in a pH-controUed equiUbrium with the corresponding ureide. 

On the basis of the observed stereoinduction trend, the addition of HCN took place over the diaminocyclohexane portion of the catalyst away from the amino acid and amide unit. The last hypothesis led to the prediction that a more sterically demanding amino acid or amide unit (Figure 6.14) could additionally favor the cyanide attack compared to the less bulky diaminocyclohexane unit and thus making the Schiff base catalyst more enantioselective in Strecker reactions of aldimines and ketimines. To evaluate this perspechve, the authors performed a model-(mechanism-) driven systematic structure optimizations by stepwise modification of the amide, the amino acid, and the (thio)urea unit of catalyst 42 and examined these derivatives of 42 (lmol% loading ) in the model Strecker reaction (toluene ... 

The modification of thiourea catalyst 93 through incorporation of the (S,S)-diaminocyclohexane backbone as an additional chirality element and a Schiff base imidazoyl-moiety led to the bifunctional catalyst 94 that, in contrast to 93 in the Strecker reaction (Scheme 6.99), exhibited enantioinduction (83-87% ee) in the nitro-Michael addition of acetone to trons-P-nitrostyrenes. The desired adducts were isolated in moderate yields (46-62%) as depicted in Scheme 6.100) [259]. 

Figure 6.59 Structural modifications of glucosamine-derived urea catalysts screening in the formation of Strecker adduct 12 (Scheme 6.174).

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... 

The only satisfactory method of preparing a-aminoisobutyrir acid is the Strecker synthesis 1 in one or another of its modifications.2 The process of isolating the product by treating an alcoholic solution of the hydrobromide with pyridine is essentially the same as that developed for glycine. 1... 

The Strecker reaction is defined as the addition of HCN to the condensation product of a carbonyl and amine component to give a-amino nitriles. Lipton and coworkers reported the first highly effective catalytic asymmetric Strecker reaction, using synthetic peptide 43, a modification of Inoue s catalyst (38), which was determined to be inactive for the Strecker reactions of aldimines (see Scheme 6.5) [62], Catalyst 43 provided chiral a-amino nitrile products for a number of N-benzhydryl imines (42) derived from substituted aromatic (71-97% yield 64->99% ee) and aliphatic (80-81% yield <10-17% ee) aldehydes, presumably through a similar mode of activation to that for hydrocyanations of aldehydes (Table 6.14). Electron-deficient aromatic imines were not suitable substrates for this catalyst, giving products in low optical purities (<10-32% ee). The a-amino nitrile product of benzaldehyde was converted to the corresponding a-amino acid in high yield (92%) and ee (>99%) via a one-step acid hydrolysis. 

Fig. 7.11. Synthesis of racemic methionine by means of the Bucherer modification of the Strecker synthesis. The first step of the reaction does not stop at the stage the step of the a-aminonitrile but yields a hydantoin (B mechanistic details Figure 7.12). The second step—via the anion C of a hydantoin acid—leads to the formation of the anion E of methionine, which can be pro-tonated during workup to yield the uncharged methionine (D).

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). 

Strecker 7 first synthesized alanine by the action of hydrocyanic add on aldehyde ammonia. The present procedure is based on Zelinsky s modification of the Strecker synthesis.8... 

Thus the acceptance of the Bloomstrand-Strecker-Erlenmeyer formula for the diazonium base and salts, and of the Hantzsch modification of the Kekule formula for the isomeric diazotates and the acid diazo hydroxide, together with the tautomeric transformations which occur, makes possible the explanation of all the facts which we have considered in the preceding discussion. These may be stated again briefly for the sake of emphasis and review, (i) The reaction of diazotization (2) the diazonium base and salts, (3) the diazotates and acid diazo hydroxide, (4) the isomerism of the diazotates, (5) the diazonium sulphites and diazo sulphonic acidsj (6) the relationship of diazo compounds to nitroso amines (7) to hydrazines (8) the coupling with amino and hydroxy compounds to form amino azo and hydroxy azo compounds, (9) the reactions of decomposition. Most of these last reactions we have not considered, but will do so presently and we shall find that they all may be likewise satisfactorily explained. The tautomeric constitution of the diazo compounds, therefore, meets every test and is generally accepted. 

In a modification of the Read reaction, instead of the free amino acids, their esters or amides, and especially their nitriles, are used.9 This procedure has also been termed the Strecker method on the basis of the synthesis of the starting amino nitriles. 

Tiurooholic acid—C, H,jNO,w—515—(ckofeic acid of Strecker)— exists os its sodium salt in the bile of man and of the carnivora, and in much less abundance in that of the herbivora in the bile of the dog it seems to be unaccompanied by any other biliary acid. It may be obtained from dog s bile by a modification of the method described under glyoo-cholic acid the watery solution is not treated with as in the... 

Enantiopure sulfinimines (thiooxime-S-oxides) 44 have been reported to facilitate the asymmetric Strecker reaction.28 Davis found that typical cyanide sources, such as potassium cyanide and TMSCN, did not possess sufficient reactivity for addition to the sulfinimines. Product 46, however, could be obtained using the more Lewis acidic Et2AlCN. Not only did the coordination of the aluminum to the oxygen of the sulfinimine activate the imine toward nucleophilic addition, this complexation also facilitated the delivery of the nitrile (see 45), These results triggered numerous modifications and variations that have enhanced this approach to chiral a-amino acids. 

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 ... 

Undoubtedly, the products of these primary biochemical events, i.e., fatty and other acids, peptides, and amino adds, contribute to cheese flavor, perhaps very significantly in many varieties and proteolysis certainly has a major influence on the various rheological properties of cheese, e.g., texture, meltability, and stretchability. However, the finer points of cheese flavor are almost certainly due to further modification of the products of the primary reactions. The most clear-cut example of this is the oxidation of fatty acids to methyl ketones in blue cheeses. Catabolism of amino acids leads to the production of numerous sapid compounds, including amines, carbonyls, acids, thiols, and alcohols. Many of these compounds may interact chemically with each other and the compounds of other reactions via the Maillard and Strecker reactions. At present, relatively little is known concerning the enzymology of amino acid catabolism in most cheeses and even less is known about the chemical reactions. It is very likely that research attention will focus on these secondary and tertiary reactions in the short-term future. 

The H CN (or CN, if the reaction is done under basic conditions) synthon has been mainly used to extend the carbon chain by one carbon. For example, cyanide ion has been used in the synthesis of amino acids labelled in the carboxylate group. This is accomplished using the high pressure-high temperature modification of the Bucherer-Strecker synthesis. In this reaction, bisulphite addition complex of an aldehyde reacts with cyanide ion in the presence of ammonium carbonate to form a hydantoin, which is then converted into the amino acid by basic hydrolysis (equation 61). 

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