Thiol esters, hydrolysis

The hydrolysis of esters and thiol esters is a classical reaction. In nature, these reactions are catalyzed by a variety of enzymes in an aqueous environment. Chemically, hydrolysis of esters and thiol esters is catalyzed both by acids and bases (Scheme 9.2). There has been... 

Metal Ion-Catalyzed Hydrolysis of Esters, Amides, and Thiol Esters... 

Substituted, 2,3-disubstituted, and 2,3-annulated thiophenes can be prepared by reactions of ketone enolates with carbonodithioic acid O-ethyl 5-(2-oxoethyl)ester. Hydrolysis of the resulting aldols, intramolecular addition of thiol group to the carbonyl group, and elimination of two molecules of water lead to the thiophenes (116) (Scheme 38) (92HCA907). 

Some strategies used for the preparation of support-bound thiols are listed in Table 8.1. Oxidative thiolation of lithiated polystyrene has been used to prepare polymeric thiophenol (Entry 1, Table 8.1). Polystyrene functionalized with 2-mercaptoethyl groups has been prepared by radical addition of thioacetic acid to cross-linked vinyl-polystyrene followed by hydrolysis of the intermediate thiol ester (Entry 2, Table 8.1). A more controllable introduction of thiol groups, suitable also for the selective transformation of support-bound substrates, is based on nucleophilic substitution with thiourea or potassium thioacetate. The resulting isothiouronium salts and thiol acetates can be saponified, preferably under reductive conditions, to yield thiols (Table 8.1). Thiol acetates have been saponified on insoluble supports with mercaptoethanol [1], propylamine [2], lithium aluminum hydride [3], sodium or lithium borohydride, alcoholates, or hydrochloric acid (Table 8.1). 

Only very few among the common amino acids possess a pK within the range 5.8-7.0. Therefore, the imidazole ring of histidine was suspected very early to represent the group responsible for nucleophilic attack on the substrate (38). The pK of free imidazol is 6.9 (39) that of imidazol, contained in histidine or its peptides, varies between 5.6 and 7.1 (40). Imidazol is well known to form unstable acyl derivatives, which undergo spontaneous hydrolysis because of the presence of the resonating triad unit —-N—C= N— (41). In addition, imidazol and its derivatives catalyze the hydrolysis of certain esters, especially those derived from phenols (42). Likewise, the behavior of imidazol towards thio esters reflects exactly the specificity of ChE s (see IV, 4). Thus, thiol esters are split (43), whereas thiono esters are resistant (21). 

A familiar example of this type of metabolite adaptation is the thiol ester derivative of acetic acid, acetyl-coenzymeA (acetylCoA). AcetylCoA has a much larger negative free energy of hydrolysis than acetate, so metabolic transformations involving the acetate ion can occur with much lower concentrations of acetylCoA than of acetate. Phosphorylated metabolic intermediates likewise allow metabolites to have high chemical potentials and occur at relatively low concentrations in the cellular water. Use of such activated intermediates enables the cell to avoid high concentrations of metabolites that can tax solvent capacity and, perhaps more important, disrupt the cell through uncontrolled chemical reactions with inappropriate molecules. 

Hydroxydec-2-enoic acid 397 was identified in the fodder juice of the Weisel cells (gelee royale) of honey bees. One of the synthesis of 397 starts from suberic acid ethylester 393 222) which was first converted into the hydroxyacid 394 and then into the thiol ester 395. Raney nickel reduction of the latter yields an intermediate aldehyde which, in statu nascendi, reacts with the phosphorane 67 to give 396. Subsequent hydrolysis of396affords the ( )-a,0-unsaturated hydroxy acid 397 222) (Scheme 70). 

Between pH 2 and 7, the rate of hydrolysis of this thiol ester is independent of pH. At pH 5 the rate is proportional to the concentration of acetate ion [AcCT] in the solution and the reaction goes twice as fast in D2O as in H2O. Suggest a mechanism for the pH-independent hydrolysis. Above pH 7, the rate increases with pH. What kind of change is this ... 

Thiol esters are less conjugated than ordinary esters (see Chapter 28, p. 744), and ester hydrolysis occurs more rapidly with thiol esters than with ordinary esters because in the rate-determining step (nucleophilic attack on the carbonyl group) there is less conj ugation to destroy. The thiolate is also a better leaving group. 

All that remains to form hygrine is the hydrolysis of the CoA thiol ester and decarboxylation of the keto-acid. This is standard chemistry, but you should ensure that you can draw the mechanisms for these steps. 

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