Tyrosine 0-methyl ether conditions

In polar solvents, the structure of the acridine 13 involves some zwitterionic character 13 a [Eq. (7)] and the interior of the cleft becomes an intensely polar microenvironment. On the periphery of the molecule a heavy lipophilic coating is provided by the hydrocarbon skeleton and methyl groups. A third domain, the large, flat aromatic surface is exposed by the acridine spacer unit. This unusual combination of ionic, hydrophobic and stacking opportunities endows these molecules with the ability to interact with the zwitterionic forms of amino acids which exist at neutral pH 24). For example, the acridine diacids can extract zwitterionic phenylalanine from water into chloroform, andNMR evidence indicates the formation of 2 1 complexes 39 such as were previously described for other P-phenyl-ethylammonium salts. Similar behavior is seen with tryptophan 40 and tyrosine methyl ether 41. The structures lacking well-placed aromatics such as leucine or methionine are not extracted to measureable degrees under these conditions. 

The tyrosine phenolic hydroxyl function was readily methylated to form a methyl ether under aqueous conditions at pH 10 with the proteins... 

The synthesis starts from the A-Boc-tyrosine methyl ester, which was O-benzylated, since the prenyl ether required in the target compound is not compatible with the conditions required for the preparation of the hydoxylamine or the hydrogenation of the isoxazolidine intermediate (Scheme 40). Following cleavage of the A-Boc, the resulting primary amine was treated with anisaldehyde, and after oxidation with m-CPBA... 

The iodonium salt shown with N-protected O-methyl tyrosine (sodium salt) in dimethytformamide at 90-95X gave the diaryl ether in 51% yield without racemisation, under these preferred milder conditions rather than by the Ullmann reaction (ref.67). 

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