Lecture 2 Flashcards
What is the carbonyl reactivity series
- Acyl halide> anhydride» ester = acid»_space; amide
What happens if we mix a carboxylic acid and an amine together to get them to react
- Nothing much, they form the salts as the amine will deprotonate the acid and neither is reactive
- Need to make the acyl halide or anhydride to give RCOX, where X is the better leaving group
How can you make acid chlorides
- Carboxylic acid + thionyl chloride –> Acid chloride + SO2 + HCl
- Carboxylic acid + oxalyl chloride –> Acid chloride + CO2 + CO + HCl
What is problem with thionyl chloride route to making acid chlorides
- Conditions are quite harsh (refluxing in SOCl2)
Describe the reaction of an acyl chloride with an amine
- Pyridine + acyl chloride + amine –> amide + pyridine (catalyst)
- Can get racemisation via ketene formation and then addition of amine - but not a lot of ketene so not fully racemic mixture
What is the role of pyridine and DMAP in the reaction of acyl chlorides and amine
- Used as a catalytic nucleophile as well as a base in the reaction
How can you form an acid fluoride
- Carboxylic acid + cyclic N thing with 3 F substituents + pyridine
- Produced an activated ester which then produces an acid fluoride
- Can be useful in some conditions
How can carbodiimides be used to produce amides
- carboxylic acid + amine to produce salts
- Then add carbodiimide (DCC) e.g. diisopropyl to produce o-acylurea which reacts with amine
- Produces amide and urea
- Activating group for an acid so no need to make a acid chloride
What are problems of using carbodiimides to produce amides
- N-acylurea formation - side reaction - from migration - happens if amine is not strongly nucleophilic
- Racemisation
- Acyl migration - what happens above
Describe the racemisation that occurs when synthesising peptides using carbodiimides
1.Particular problem when synthesising from N- to C-terminus
2. Activating the terminal carboxylic acid can allow for attack by the penultimate carbonyl
3. As the ester is not reactive enough
What is driving force for synthesising peptides using carbodiimides
- Formation of very stable urea
2.c=o is very strong and energetically favourable
How can you get around problem of racemisation and side reactions when forming a peptide without acid chloride
- Activate the ester
How can the DCC ester be activated
- Using a nucleophilic species e.g. R-OH
- Forms O-R bond in ester- very good leaving group
- HOBT and HOAT are most common
What is HOBt and HOAt
- Oxygen is next to another electronegative element e.g. N
- Alpha nucleophiles
- Makes very good nucleophiles
- HOAt has extra pyridyl nitrogen which can reduce racemisation
- HOBt is cheaper so more commonly used
What is an NHS-ester
- Activated ester
- Uses disuccininimyl carbonate
- Can be brought so useful - but expensive
What can be used instead of HOAt and HOBt
- Problem with them is 2-step process - first carbodiimide then add alphanucleophile to get activated ester
- Can use BOP and PyBOP instead