Thiol acids, esters, lactones

Thiol acids, esters, lactones N-Phenylselenophthalimide, 245 Zirconium(IV) acetylacetonate, 351... 

The nature of the Botrytis aroma compounds has been subjected to extensive research. In addition to the older findings about the importance of hydroxy-, oxo-, and dicarboxylic acid esters, acetals, and some special y- and 8-lactones, the role of volatile thiols has recently been elucidated. Nonetheless, additional research is needed to identify odor active compounds that are specific for botrytized wines. 

Food, flavors consist of numerous compounds, none of which alone is characteristic of specific food. Classes of compounds which emcompass food flavors are - hydrocarbons (aliphatic, ali-cyclic, aromatic) carbonyls (aldehydes, ketones) carboxylic acids, esters, imides, anhydrides alcohols, phenols, ethers alkylamines, alkylimines aliphatic sulfur compounds (thiols, mono-, di- and tri-sulfides) nitrogen heterocyclics (pyrroles, pyrazines, pyridines) sulfur heterocylics (thiophenes, thiazoles, trithiolane, thialidine) and oxygen-heterocyclics (lactone, pyrone, furan). Discussion will be limited to striking developments in heterocyclics. 

The reaction of cyclohexenamides with nucleophiles such as water, alcohols, or thiols, produced carboxylic acid, esters, or thioesters. Reaction with acetylenic dipolarophiles in acidic conditions produced highly functionalized pyrroles via a complex mechanism, implying as intermediates 1,3-dipoles and bycyclic cycloaddition products. Reaction of cyclohexenamides containing protected hydroxylic functions with AcCl/MeOH produced < -lactones, while cyclohexenamides, bearing in Ri an o-aminophenyl group, easily cyclized to 1, 4-benzodiazepine-2, 5-diones. 

Thiol carboxylic esters (1) are the most common compounds among the three types of thioester. They are activated derivatives of carboxylic acids and exhibit acylating properties similar to those of carboxylic acid anhydrides. They have therefore found widespread application in synthetic chemistry and have been used for preparing esters, amides and peptides, especially macrocyclic ketones and lactones. Several review articles concerning the chemistry of thiol carboxylic esters - - and thiol lactones have appeared. 

The addition of Grignard reagents to aldehydes, ketones, and esters is the basis for the synthesis of a wide variety of alcohols, and several examples are given in Scheme 7.3. Primary alcohols can be made from formaldehyde (Entry 1) or, with addition of two carbons, from ethylene oxide (Entry 2). Secondary alcohols are obtained from aldehydes (Entries 3 to 6) or formate esters (Entry 7). Tertiary alcohols can be made from esters (Entries 8 and 9) or ketones (Entry 10). Lactones give diols (Entry 11). Aldehydes can be prepared from trialkyl orthoformate esters (Entries 12 and 13). Ketones can be made from nitriles (Entries 14 and 15), pyridine-2-thiol esters (Entry 16), N-methoxy-A-methyl carboxamides (Entries 17 and 18), or anhydrides (Entry 19). Carboxylic acids are available by reaction with C02 (Entries 20 to 22). Amines can be prepared from imines (Entry 23). Two-step procedures that involve formation and dehydration of alcohols provide routes to certain alkenes (Entries 24 and 25). 

The at complex from DIB AH and butyllithium is a selective reducing agent.16 It is used tor the 1,2-reduction of acyclic and cyclic enones. Esters and lactones are reduced at room temperature to alcohols, and at -78 C to alcohols and aldehydes. Acid chlorides are rapidly reduced with excess reagent at -78 C to alcohols, but a mixture of alcohols, aldehydes, and acid chlorides results from use of an equimolar amount of reagent at -78 C. Acid anhydrides are reduced at -78 C to alcohols and carboxylic acids. Carboxylic acids and both primary and secondary amides are inert at room temperature, whereas tertiary amides (as in the present case) are reduced between 0 C and room temperature to aldehydes. The at complex rapidly reduces primary alkyl, benzylic, and allylic bromides, while tertiary alkyl and aryl halides are inert. Epoxides are reduced exclusively to the more highly substituted alcohols. Disulfides lead to thiols, but both sulfoxides and sulfones are inert. Moreover, this at complex from DIBAH and butyllithium is able to reduce ketones selectively in the presence of esters. 

The reaction under consideration is typified by the formation of saturated carboxylic acids from olefins, carbon monoxide, and water. Other compounds have been used in place of olefins (alkyl halides, alcohols), and besides water, a variety of compounds containing active hydrogen may be employed. Thus, alcohols, thiols, amines, and acids give rise to esters, thio-esters, amides, and acid anhydrides, respectively (15). If the olefin and the active hydrogen are part of the same molecule, three or four atoms apart, cyclizations may occur to produce lactones, lactams, imides, etc. The cyclizations are formally equivalent to carbonylations, however, and will be considered later. 

Hundreds of compounds have been identified in the volatile flavor components of processed foods. Hydrocarbons, alcohols, ethers, aldehydes, ketones, acids, acid anhydrides, esters, aromatic, lactones, pyrones, furans, pyridines, pyrroles, n-alkylpyrrole-2-aldehydes, pyrazines, sulfides, disulfides, thiols, thiophenes, thiazoles, trithiolanes, thialdine. ..etc. 

Two superior, alternative reagents for the Corey method are the disulfides 23 and 24 [19], For example, in the first synthesis [20] of erythronolide B (27), the aglycone of the important antibiotic erythromycin B, cyclization of the hydroxy acid 25 to the 14-membered lactone 26 was effected in 50% yield via the thiol ester of 4-r-butyl-iV-isopropyl-2-mercaptoimidazole by heating in dry toluene under reflux (Scheme 9). 

Review. New synthetic reactions based on the onium salts of aza-arenes have been reviewed (75 references). The reactions discussed involve activation of carboxylic acids or alcohols with 2-haIopyridinium, benzoxazolium, benzothiazolium, and pyridinium salts to afford 2-acyloxy or 2-alkoxy intermediates, which can be transformed into esters, amides, thiol esters, (macrocyclic) lactones, acid fluorides, olefins, allenes, carbodiimides, isocyanates, isothiocyanates, and nitriles under appropriate conditions. 

Thiolate ions are also useful for the demethylation of certain ethers, esters, amines, and quaternary ammonium salts. Aryl methyl ethers can be cleaved by heating with EtS in the dipolar aprotic solvent DMF ROAr + EtS ArO +EtSR. Carboxylic esters and lactones are cleaved (the lactones give co-alkylthio carboxylic acids) with a thiol and AICI3 or AlBrs. Esters and lactones... 

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