Strecker Amino Acid Synthesis
The Strecker amino-acid synthesis, devised by Adolph Strecker, is a series of chemical reactions that synthesize an amino acid from an aldehyde or ketone. 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. In the original Strecker reaction acetaldehyde, ammonia, and hydrogen cyanide combined to form after hydrolysis alanine.
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.
The traditional synthesis of Adolph Strecker from 1850 gives racemic α-amino nitriles, but recently several procedures utilizing asymmetric auxiliaries or asymmetric catalysts have been developed.
Read more about Strecker Amino Acid Synthesis: Reaction Mechanism, Asymmetric Strecker Reactions, Catalytic Asymmetric Strecker Reactions, Scope
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