Sugar-amine condensation

Reaction A Sugar-amine condensation Reaction B Amadori rearrangement... 

Scheme 2.1 Sugar-amine condensation to form N- substituted glycosylamine...

Despite the current popularity of the polyphenol theory, a completely satisfactory scheme for the occurrence of humic and fulvic acids in diverse geologic environments has yet to be established. In practice, all pathways may be operative, but not to the same extent in all environments or in the same order of importance. A lignin pathway may-predominate in wet sediments, such as peats and swamps. The drastic conditions existing in soils under a harsh continental climate (e.g., some Mollisols) may favor humus synthesis by sugar-amine condensation. The disappearance of amino acids from buried sediments has been attributed to the formation of brown nitrogenous polyelectrolytes by reaction with reducing sugars (Stevenson, 1974). 

The nature of the structure depends on the assumptions one uses as to the probable precursors for the humate. Lignin is a favorite precursor others include tannins, quinones, microbiological metabolites, sugar-amine condensation products, and other products (Stevenson, 1982). 

In contrast to the selective preservation theory, the condensation pathway proposes that humic substances are derived from the polymerization and condensation of low-molecular-weight molecules that are products of the partial microbial degradation of organic residues (Kogel-Knabner, 1993). Under this scheme of increasing complexa-tion, fulvic acids would be the first humic substances synthesized, followed by humic acids and then humin (Stevenson, 1994). The two commonly accepted condensation models are the polyphenol theory and the sugar-amine or mela-noidin theory. 

As far back as 1967, Newell (9) proposed a pyrazine formation mechanism between sugar and amino acid precursors (see Figure 1). The Sohiff base cation is formed by addition of the amino acid to the anomeric portion of aldohexose followed by a loss of water and hydroxyl ion. Decarboxylation forms an imine which can hydrolyze to an aldehyde and dieneunine. Enolization occurs and the resulting keto-amine condenses to amino acetone and glyceraldehyde. The pyrazine (2,5 dimethyl) is then formed by the condensation of the two molecules of eunino acetone. 

Heating the sugar with strong acid yields furfural derivatives. Aldohexoses can eliminate water and formaldehyde under these conditions yielding furfural. This adehyde reacts with amines according to I to yield colored Schiff s bases. Ketohex-oses condense with diphenylamine in acid medium with simultaneous oxidation according to II to yield the condensation product shown. 

In a total synthesis of inhibitors of this kind, the following methods have so far been employed successfully (a) reaction of a cyclohexenyl halide with an amine, (b) coupling of an amine with an epoxide, and (c) condensation of an amine with ketone and reduction of the resulting Schiff base (reductive alkylation of an amino sugar). 

Another example of the ability of proteinogenic amino acids, small peptides, and amines to catalyse the formation of new C-C bonds has been demonstrated by Weber and Pizzarello they were able to carry out model reactions for the stereospecific synthesis of sugars (tetroses) using homochiral L-dipeptides. The authors achieved a D-enantiomeric excess (ee) of more than 80% using L-Val-L-Val as the peptide catalyst in sugar synthesis (in particular D-erythrose) via self-condensation of glycol aldehyde. 

According to the latter approach, reducing sugars 128 were reacted with triethylammonium dimethyl boranophosphate in the presence of bis(2-oxo-3-oxazolidinyl)phosphinic chloride as condensing reagent, 3-nitro- 1,2,4-triazole as nucleophilic catalyst and A,A-diisopropyl-A-ethyl-amine to provide boranophosphate triester derivatives 129 as anomeric... 

In carbohydrate chemistry, the most described method for the preparation of saccharidic thionocarbamates involves preliminary introduction of the amine function on a partially or non-protected saccharidic template. The condensation of amino sugars with carbon disulfide or thiophosgene leads to cyclization in 1,3-oxazolidine- or l,3-oxazine-2-thiones. This reaction involves the formation of an intermediate isothiocyanate, which reacts further with a 3- or y-located hydroxyl group. The viability and facility of this process depends on the saccharidic ring size and the inherent strain. Some major rules can be put into light from the cases studied 30... 

Since then, optically active a-aminophosphonates have been obtained by a variety of methods including resolution, asymmetric phosphite additions to imine double bonds and sugar-based nitrones, condensation of optically active ureas with phosphites and aldehydes, catalytic asymmetric hydrogenation, and 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions. These approaches have been discussed in a comprehensive review by Dhawan and Redmore.9 More recent protocols involve electrophilic amination of homochiral dioxane acetals,10 alkylation of homochiral imines derived from pinanone11 and ketopinic acid,12 and alkylation of homochiral, bicyclic phosphonamides.13... 

---