Strecker amino acid synthesis
Strecker synthesis | |
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Named after | Adolph Strecker |
Reaction type | Substitution reaction |
Identifiers | |
Organic Chemistry Portal | strecker-synthesis |
RSC ontology ID | RXNO:0000207 |
The Strecker amino acid synthesis, also known simply as the Strecker synthesis, was devised by German chemist Adolph Strecker, and is a term used for a series of chemical reactions that synthesize an amino acid from an aldehyde or ketone.[1][2][3] The aldehyde is condensed with ammonium chloride in the presence of potassium cyanide to form an α-aminonitrile, which is subsequently hydrolyzed to give the desired amino acid.[4][5] In the original Strecker reaction acetaldehyde, ammonia, and hydrogen cyanide combined to form after hydrolysis alanine.
![](../I/m/Strecker_amino_acid_synthesis_scheme.svg.png)
While usage of ammonium salts gives unsubstituted amino acids, primary and secondary amines also successfully give substituted amino acids. Likewise, the usage of ketones, instead of aldehydes, gives α,α-disubstituted amino acids.[6]
The traditional synthesis of Adolph Strecker from 1850 gives racemic α-amino nitriles, but several procedures utilizing asymmetric auxiliaries[7] or asymmetric catalysts[8][9] have been developed.[10]
Reaction mechanism
In the first part of the reaction, the carbonyl oxygen of an aldehyde is protonated, followed by a nucleophilic attack of ammonia to the carbonyl carbon. After subsequent proton exchange, water is cleaved from the iminium ion intermediate. A cyanide ion then attacks the iminium carbon yielding an aminonitrile.
![](../I/m/Strecker's_amino_acid_synthesis_mechanism_part_1.svg.png)
In the second part of the Strecker Synthesis the nitrile nitrogen of the aminonitrile is protonated, and the nitrile carbon is attacked by a water molecule. A 1,2-diamino-diol is then formed after proton exchange and a nucleophilic attack of water to the former nitrile carbon. Ammonia is subsequently eliminated after the protonation of the amino group, and finally the deprotonation of a hydroxyl group produces an amino acid.
![](../I/m/Strecker's_amino_acid_synthesis_mechanism_part_2.svg.png)
One example of the Strecker synthesis is a multikilogram scale synthesis of an L-valine derivative starting from 3-methyl-2-butanone:[11][12]
Asymmetric Strecker reactions
The asymmetric Strecker reaction was pioneered by Kaoru Harada in 1963.[13][14] By replacing ammonia with (S)-alpha-phenylethylamine as chiral auxiliary the ultimate reaction product was chiral alanine. The first asymmetric synthesis via a chiral catalyst was reported in 1996.[15]
Catalytic Asymmetric Strecker reactions
Catalytic asymmetric Strecker reaction can be effected using thiourea-derived catalyst.[16] In 2012, a BINOL-derived catalyst was employed to generate chiral cyanide anion.[17]
![](../I/m/lossy-page1-220px-Catalytic_Asymmetric_Strecker_Synthesis-Nature_Chem.tif.jpg)
References
- ↑ Strecker, A. (1850). "Ueber die künstliche Bildung der Milchsäure und einen neuen, dem Glycocoll homologen Körper". Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie. 75 (1): 27–45. doi:10.1002/jlac.18500750103.
- ↑ Strecker, A. (1854). "Ueber einen neuen aus Aldehyd – Ammoniak und Blausäure entstehenden Körper (p )". Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie. 91 (3): 349–351. doi:10.1002/jlac.18540910309.
- ↑ Shibasaki, M.; Kanai, M.; Mita, K. Org. React. 2008, 70, 1. doi:10.1002/0471264180.or070.01
- ↑ Kendall, E. C.; McKenzie, B. F. Organic Syntheses, Coll. Vol. 1, p.21 (1941); Vol. 9, p.4 (1929). (Article)
- ↑ Clarke, H. T.; Bean, H. J. Organic Syntheses, Coll. Vol. 2, p.29 (1943); Vol. 11, p.4 (1931). (Article)
- ↑ Masumoto, S.; Usuda, H.; Suzuki, M.; Kanai, M.; Shibasaki, M. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2003, 125(19), 5634–5635. (doi:10.1021/ja034980+)
- ↑ Davis, F. A. et al. Tetrahedron Lett. 1994, 35, 9351.
- ↑ Ishitani, H.; Komiyama, S.; Hasegawa, Y.; Kobayashi, S. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2000, 122(5), 762–766. (doi:10.1021/ja9935207)
- ↑ Huang, J.; Corey, E. J. Org. Lett. 2004, 6(26), 5027–5029. (doi:10.1021/ol047698w)
- ↑ Duthaler, R. O. Tetrahedron 1994, 50, 1539–1650. (Review, doi:10.1016/S0040-4020(01)80840-1)
- ↑ A Concise Synthesis of (S)-N-Ethoxycarbonyl—methylvaline Jeffrey T. Kuethe, Donald R. Gauthier, Jr., Gregory L. Beutner, and Nobuyoshi Yasuda J. Org. Chem., 72 (19), 7469 -7472, 2007. doi:10.1021/jo7012862
- ↑ The initial reaction product of 3-methyl-2butanone with sodium cyanide and ammonia is resolved by application of L-tartaric acid. The amino acid is isolated as its salt with dicyclohexylamine.
- ↑ Asymmetric Synthesis of α-Amino-acids by the Strecker Synthesis Kaoru Harada Nature 200, 1201 (21 December 1963); doi:10.1038/2001201a0
- ↑ Asymmetric Strecker Reactions Jun Wang, Xiaohua Liu, Xiaoming Feng 2011 Chemical Reviews Article ASAP doi:10.1021/cr200057t
- ↑ Asymmetric Catalysis of the Strecker Amino Acid Synthesis by a Cyclic Dipeptide Mani S. Iyer,, Kenneth M. Gigstad,, Nivedita D. Namdev, and, Mark Lipton Journal of the American Chemical Society 1996 118 (20), 4910–4911 doi:10.1021/ja952686e
- ↑ "Scaleable catalytic asymmetric Strecker syntheses of unnatural alpha-amino acids" doi:10.1038/nature08484 http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v461/n7266/full/nature08484.html
- ↑ "Scalable organocatalytic asymmetric Strecker reactions catalysed by a chiral cyanide generator" doi:10.1038/ncomms2216 http://www.nature.com/ncomms/journal/v3/n11/full/ncomms2216.html