Thioesters from carboxylic acid derivatives

Very important compounds are the carboxylic acids and their derivatives, which can be formally obtained by exchanging the OH group for another group. In fact, derivatives of this type are formed by nucleophilic substitutions of activated intermediate compounds and the release of water (see p. 14). Carboxylic acid esters (R-O-CO-R ) arise from carboxylic acids and alcohols. This group includes the fats, for example (see p.48). Similarly, a carboxylic acid and a thiol yield a thioester (R-S-CO-R ). Thioesters play an extremely important role in carboxylic acid metabolism. The best-known compound of this type is acetyl-coenzyme A (see p. 12). 

Hlectronically, we find that strongly polarized acyl compounds react more readily than less polar ones. I hus, add chlorides are the most reactive because the electronegative chlorine atom withdraws electrons from the carbonyl carbon, whereas amides are the least reactive. Although subtle, electrostatic potential maps of various carboxylic acid derivatives indicate the differences by the relative blueness on the C=0 carbons. Acyl phosphates are hard to place on this scale because they are not used in the laboratory, but in biological systems they appear to be somewhat more reactive than thioesters. 

The reaction of N-arylsulfonylsuinmides with a range of trivalent phosphorus compounds gave near quantitative yields of the phosphinimides and the sulfide. I Addition of protic solvents led to reduction products, which contain, besides the original sulfides, an alkyl-exchanged sulfide in which the alkyl group derived from the alcohol. 126.127 other derivatives, (acid anhydride, amide, ester or thioester) were formed in the presence of carboxylic acid derivatives. 128,129 xhese reactions were favoured by the dipolar nature of the intermediately formed sulfurane. 127... 

The cleavage of organic compounds from nucleophile-labile resins usually relies on the addition-elimination chemistry at the carbonyl group of the carboxylic acid derivative (i.e. an ester or thioester) that mediates the linkage between the assembled compound and the linker-resin. The overall reaction is a nucleophilic substitution that involves the release into the solution of the compound of interest with the attacking nucleophile generally incorporated. The linker-resin generally acts... 

Thioesters have the general formula RCSR. They resemble their oxygen counterparts RCOR (oxoesters) in structure and reactivity more than other carboxylic acid derivatives such as acyl chlorides, acid anhydrides, and amides. Thioesters can be prepared from thiols by reaction with acyl chlorides or acid anhydrides in much the same way as oxoesters are prepared from alcohols. 

N-Formylsaccharin 102, an easily accessible crystalline compound, has been employed as an efficient CO source in Pd-catalyzed fluorocarbonyl-ation of aryl halides 103 to afford the corresponding acyl fluorides 104 (13OL5370). Reagent KF is expected to serve as a dual role not only as a nucleophile for Pd-catalyzed carbonylation but also as an activator for CO generation from 102. The reactions use a near-stoichiometric amount of the CO source (1.2 eq) and tolerate diverse functional groups. The acyl fluorides 104 can be readily transformed into various carboxylic acid derivatives such as carboxylic acid, esters, thioesters, and amides in a one-pot procedure. 

Although this methodology is not successful with acyclic carboxylic acid derivatives (e.g. Weinreb amides, A-acyloxazolidinones, carboxylic esters or thioesters), it is possible to reach this kind of valuable enantiomerically enriched products by a simple oxidation with commercial bleach from the corresponding ketone (Scheme 29, top). If the ketone possesses a substituent prone to oxidation, an alternative procedure, involving the formation of a silyl enol ether (which does not need isolation/purification), can be followed instead (Scheme 29, bottom). 

A-Acyl-4-pyridones can serve as useful acyl group transfer reagents for the esterification of alcohols in >80% yields.Two notable points about these reagents are their effectiveness in the preparation of formate esters (c/. ref. 157), and their much greater rate of reaction with primary alcohols, (c/. ref. 147). Thioesters and amides can also be prepared from such pyridones by reaction with thiols or amines, respectively. Other useful reagents for the direct formation of esters from carboxylic acids and alcohols are 2-fluoropyridinium salts in the presence of caesium fluorideand certain benzoisothiazole derivatives. Primary alcohols can be esterified with 2,2 -bipyridyl-6-yl carboxylates and CsF. Selective esterification of a primary alcohol in the presence of a secondary alcohol can be achieved in acceptable yields with this reagent (c/. ref. 144). 

As carboxylic acid derivatives, the enolates derived from N-acyl oxazolidinones approximate the reactivity patterns of thioesters the derived alkali metal enolates display moderate nucleophilicity [82]. Investigations of these systems have revealed that there is a pronounced difference in alkylation rates between the various alkali metal enolates. Thus, although the reactivity of the lithium enolates is limited (reaction temperatures = 0°C), the corresponding sodium enolates undergo allcylation at lower temperatures (-78 °C). This feature resulted in higher observed diastereoselectivity for the corresponding sodium enolates in the alkylation reactions. 

The thioester hypothesis can be summed up as follows the formation of thiols was possible, for example, in volcanic environments (either above ground or submarine). Carboxylic acids and their derivatives were either formed in abiotic syntheses or arrived on Earth from outer space. The carboxylic acids reacted under favourable conditions with thiols (i.e., Fe redox processes due to the sun s influence, at optimal temperatures and pH values) to give energy-rich thioesters, from which polymers were formed these in turn (in part) formed membranes. Some of the thioesters then reacted with inorganic phosphate (Pi) to give diphosphate (PPi). Transphosphorylations led to various phosphate esters. AMP and other nucleoside monophosphates reacted with diphosphate to give the nucleoside triphosphates, and thus the RNA world (de Duve, 1998). In contrast to Gilbert s RNA world, the de Duve model represents an RNA world which was either supported by the thioester world, or even only made possible by it. 

The chemical diversity of carboxylic acid esters (R-CO-O-R ) originates in both moieties, i.e., the acyl group (R-CO-) and the alkoxy or aryloxy group (-OR7). Thus, the acyl group can be made up of aliphatic or aromatic carboxylic acids, carbamic acids, or carbonic acids, and the -OR7 moiety may be derived from an alcohol, an enol, or a phenol. When a thiol is involved, a thioester R-CO-S-R7 is formed. The model substrates to be discussed in Sect. 7.3 will, thus, be classified according to the chemical nature of the -OR7 (or -SR7) moiety, i.e., the alcohol, phenol, or thiol that is the first product to be released during the hydrolase-catalyzed reaction (see Chapt. 3). Diesters represent substrates of special interest and will be presented separately. 

Outline of the reactions for fatty acid biosynthesis. Fatty acids grow in steps of two-carbon units and take place on a multienzyme complex, (a) The initial reactions of fatty acid biosynthesis are shown. In the first reaction, acetyl-CoA reacts with ACP (acyl carrier protein) to form acetyl-ACP (step 1). ACP is shown with its SH group emphasized (see fig. 18.13) to remind readers that the acyl derivatives are linked to ACP via a thioester bond. Malonyl-CoA, derived from the carboxylation of acetyl-CoA (see fig. 18.9), reacts... 

Numerous researchers have employed thiols as weak bases in the thioalkylation reaction to ligate unprotected peptides with a haloacetyl group to form thioethers at pH 7 8.5[90 91 131-133 or thioesters at acidic to basic conditions. 108"110 Of these two reactions, thioether formation is often the choice because thioesters suffer from instability in aqueous basic conditions. Haloacetyl derivatives, either as carboxylic acids or active esters, can be attached to either the N-terminal or side-chain amines during the stepwise solid-phase synthesis of either the peptide or the core and are stable to either HF or TFA cleavage conditions. Capping an amino group with a chloroacetyl group is compatible with Fmoc chemistry when used at a terminal step. 

Most carboxylic esters are composites of carboxylic acids and alcohols. A thioester is formed from a carboxylic acid and a thiol. Thioesters are also called thiol esters to emphasize that they are derivatives of thiols. 

The loading module comprises three domains. The first (CL) shows homology to ATP-dependent carboxylic acid-CoA ligases, the second is a putative enoyl reductase (ER) and the third an ACP. The probable sequence of operations starts with the enoic acid 74 derived from shikimic acid which is reduced by the ER domain. The first domain will activate the carboxylic acid to an active acyl derivative ready for transfer to the thiol residue of the ACP. The final saturated product will end up attached to the ACP as a thioester derivative ready for transfer to the KS domain of the first chain extension module. The timing of the reduction in this sequence of operations cannot be predicted. 

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