Ethyl pyruvate

Last updated
Ethyl Pyruvate
Ethyl Pyruvate.png
Ethyl Pyruvate ball and stick model
Ethyl pyruvate.svg
Names
Other names
ethyl 2-oxopropanoate
Ethyl-2-oxopropanoat
Propanoic acid, 2-oxo-, ethyl ester
Pyruvic acid, ethyl ester (8CI) [1]
Identifiers
3D model (JSmol)
ChEBI
ChEMBL
ChemSpider
DrugBank
ECHA InfoCard 100.009.557 OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
EC Number
  • 210-511-2
PubChem CID
UNII
UN number 3272
  • InChI=1S/C5H8O3/c1-3-8-5(7)4(2)6/h3H2,1-2H3
    Key: XXRCUYVCPSWGCC-UHFFFAOYSA-N
  • CCOC(=O)C(=O)C
Properties
C5H8O3
Molar mass 116.12 g mol−1
Appearancecolorless liquid
Density 1.045 g cm−3
Melting point −58 °C (−72 °F; 215 K)
Boiling point 142 °C (288 °F; 415 K) 760
10 g L−1 (at 20 °C) [2]
log P 0.048
Hazards [3]
Occupational safety and health (OHS/OSH):
Main hazards
Flammable/Irritant
GHS labelling:
GHS-pictogram-flamme.svg
Warning
H226
P210, P233, P240, P241, P242, P243, P280, P303+P361+P353, P370+P378, P403+P235, P501
NFPA 704 (fire diamond)
2
2
0
Flash point 45 °C
Safety data sheet (SDS) External MSDS
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa).

Ethyl pyruvate is a colorless organic compound with a molecular formula of C5H8O3.

Contents

Structure

Ethyl pyruvate is small molecule with both ketone and ester functionality. The molecule has no hydrogen donors, but three atoms that are hydrogen receptors. Three of the bonds are rotatable and there are no stereocenters. [4] The molecule has two carbonyl carbons, which can act as electrophiles, as well as three α-hydrogens. Ethyl Pyruvate can also be synonymous with ethyl 2-oxopropanoate, Ethyl-2-oxopropanoat, Propanoic acid, 2-oxo-, ethyl ester, Pyruvic acid, and ethyl ester [5]

Research and applications

Three independent studies of ethyl pyruvate were performed, with rats as their test subjects, and each produced an optimistic result. The first study showed that ethyl pyruvate has a protective role against phosgene-induced pulmonary edema. [6]

The second study showed the therapeutic effects of ethyl pyruvate against severe acute pancreatitis. This study concluded three things: First, ethyl pyruvate prevents the severe acute pancreatitis-induced hepatic expression of tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β). Second, ethyl pyruvate protects the rats from severe acute pancreatitis-induced liver and pancreas damages. Third, ethyl pyruvate controls liver severe acute pancreatitis induced by NF-κB activation. [7] The third study showed the effects of sodium pyruvate (SP) and ethyl pyruvate (EP) as treatments to brain injury. This experiment concluded that the pyruvate treatments proved beneficial neurologically post-cortical contusion injury (CCI). [8]

The effects of ethyl pyruvate as an antioxidant were compared to that of its sodium salt in a recent study. Ethyl pyruvate has a greater lipophilicity than sodium pyruvate, which allows it to be a more effective scavenger in the reaction. This study was done using a liver homogenate as the model for cell membrane transport deletion. [9] Hypochlorous acid was used as the oxidant, and the focus of the study was on the capacity of the pyruvates to scavenge the reactive oxygen species. Ethyl pyruvate is a good antioxidant due to its α-ketocarboxylate structure, which allows it to reduce hydrogen peroxide to water and scavenge the hydroxyl radical through decarboxylation.

Amino-2H-imidazoles are a new class of BACE-1 inhibitors for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Amino-2H-imidazoles were introduced because current treatments of Alzheimer's disease only treat the symptoms, but do not correct the underlying neuropathology. Ethyl pyruvate is used as a reactant in the synthesis of many of these new BACE-1 inhibitors. [10]

Overall, ethyl pyruvate has been found to be beneficial in wound healing, liver disease, pancreatitis, and spinal cord repair. Relating to health, there are still many researchers using ethyl pyruvate in their projects pertaining to myocardial ischemia, reperfusion, and human gastric cancer. [11]

Preparation and reactions

Ethyl pyruvate can be synthesized in a simple, one-step reaction from the oxidation of ethyl lactate. Since ethyl lactate [12] is slightly cheaper to buy than ethyl pyruvate, [13] this synthesis can be useful. There are many different reagents that can be used to push the reaction forward to yield in excess of 98%, such as using potassium permanganate and aluminum sulfate hydrate in dichloromethane solvent. [14]

"Mechanism of Ethyl Pyruvate formation" Synthesis of Ethyl Pyruvate.png
"Mechanism of Ethyl Pyruvate formation"

Ethyl pyruvate can undergo reduction (chemistry) as well. For example, when reduced by sodium borohydride the ketone gets reduced to an alcohol, leaving the ester group untouched. But, when ethyl pyruvate is reduced by lithium aluminium hydride, both the ketone and ester get completely reduced to alcohols.

Enantioselective reactions are extremely important in chemistry, as the formation of optically pure products is especially useful in the food, pharmaceutical, and agrochemical industries. An important enantioselective reaction in modern chemistry involves the hydrogenation of α-ketoesters, including ethyl pyruvate. [15] These reactions produce α-hydroxiesters, which are chiral compounds that can be further modified to synthesize important biologically active compounds. In the hydrogenation of ethyl pyruvate, Pt/SiO2 catalysts were modified with a chiral agent, cinchonidine. Without the addition of tin, the enantioselectivity was largely dependent on the size of the particles - larger particles dictated higher enantioselective success. With the promotion of small amounts of tin, the hydrogenation rate and the enantioselective success both increased. However, a critical amount was reached, where additional tin decreased the hydrogenation rate along with the enantioselective success of the reaction.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aldol condensation</span> Type of chemical reaction

An aldol condensation is a condensation reaction in organic chemistry in which two carbonyl moieties react to form a β-hydroxyaldehyde or β-hydroxyketone, and this is then followed by dehydration to give a conjugated enone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sodium borohydride</span> Chemical compound

Sodium borohydride, also known as sodium tetrahydridoborate and sodium tetrahydroborate, is an inorganic compound with the formula NaBH4. This white solid, usually encountered as an aqueous basic solution, is a reducing agent that finds application in papermaking and dye industries. It is also used as a reagent in organic synthesis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael addition reaction</span> Reaction in organic chemistry

In organic chemistry, the Michael reaction or Michael 1,4 addition is a reaction between a Michael donor and a Michael acceptor to produce a Michael adduct by creating a carbon-carbon bond at the acceptor's β-carbon. It belongs to the larger class of conjugate additions and is widely used for the mild formation of carbon-carbon bonds.

The Robinson annulation is a chemical reaction used in organic chemistry for ring formation. It was discovered by Robert Robinson in 1935 as a method to create a six membered ring by forming three new carbon–carbon bonds. The method uses a ketone and a methyl vinyl ketone to form an α,β-unsaturated ketone in a cyclohexane ring by a Michael addition followed by an aldol condensation. This procedure is one of the key methods to form fused ring systems.

The Claisen condensation is a carbon–carbon bond forming reaction that occurs between two esters or one ester and another carbonyl compound in the presence of a strong base. The reaction produces a β-keto ester or a β-diketone. It is named after Rainer Ludwig Claisen, who first published his work on the reaction in 1887. The reaction has often been displaced by diketene-based chemistry, which affords acetoacetic esters.

The Bouveault–Blanc reduction is a chemical reaction in which an ester is reduced to primary alcohols using absolute ethanol and sodium metal. It was first reported by Louis Bouveault and Gustave Louis Blanc in 1903. Bouveault and Blanc demonstrated the reduction of ethyl oleate and n-butyl oleate to oleyl alcohol. Modified versions of which were subsequently refined and published in Organic Syntheses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glucuronic acid</span> Chemical compound

Glucuronic acid is a uronic acid that was first isolated from urine. It is found in many gums such as gum arabic, xanthan, and kombucha tea and is important for the metabolism of microorganisms, plants and animals.

The Carroll rearrangement is a rearrangement reaction in organic chemistry and involves the transformation of a β-keto allyl ester into a α-allyl-β-ketocarboxylic acid. This organic reaction is accompanied by decarboxylation and the final product is a γ,δ-allylketone. The Carroll rearrangement is an adaptation of the Claisen rearrangement and effectively a decarboxylative allylation.

The Reformatsky reaction is an organic reaction which condenses aldehydes or ketones with α-halo esters using metallic zinc to form β-hydroxy-esters:

The Dowd–Beckwith ring-expansion reaction is an organic reaction in which a cyclic β-keto ester is expanded by up to 4 carbons in a free radical ring expansion reaction through an α-alkylhalo substituent. The radical initiator system is based on AIBN and tributyltin hydride. The cyclic β-keto ester can be obtained through a Dieckmann condensation. The original reaction consisted of a nucleophilic aliphatic substitution of the enolate of ethyl cyclohexanone-2-carboxylate with 1,4-diiodobutane and sodium hydride followed by ring expansion to ethyl cyclodecanone-6-carboxylate. A side-reaction is organic reduction of the iodoalkane.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peterson olefination</span> Chemical reaction

The Peterson olefination is the chemical reaction of α-silyl carbanions with ketones to form a β-hydroxysilane (2) which eliminates to form alkenes (3).

The Stetter reaction is a reaction used in organic chemistry to form carbon-carbon bonds through a 1,4-addition reaction utilizing a nucleophilic catalyst. While the related 1,2-addition reaction, the benzoin condensation, was known since the 1830s, the Stetter reaction was not reported until 1973 by Dr. Hermann Stetter. The reaction provides synthetically useful 1,4-dicarbonyl compounds and related derivatives from aldehydes and Michael acceptors. Unlike 1,3-dicarbonyls, which are easily accessed through the Claisen condensation, or 1,5-dicarbonyls, which are commonly made using a Michael reaction, 1,4-dicarbonyls are challenging substrates to synthesize, yet are valuable starting materials for several organic transformations, including the Paal–Knorr synthesis of furans and pyrroles. Traditionally utilized catalysts for the Stetter reaction are thiazolium salts and cyanide anion, but more recent work toward the asymmetric Stetter reaction has found triazolium salts to be effective. The Stetter reaction is an example of umpolung chemistry, as the inherent polarity of the aldehyde is reversed by the addition of the catalyst to the aldehyde, rendering the carbon center nucleophilic rather than electrophilic.

In chemistry, transfer hydrogenation is a chemical reaction involving the addition of hydrogen to a compound from a source other than molecular H2. It is applied in laboratory and industrial organic synthesis to saturate organic compounds and reduce ketones to alcohols, and imines to amines. It avoids the need for high-pressure molecular H2 used in conventional hydrogenation. Transfer hydrogenation usually occurs at mild temperature and pressure conditions using organic or organometallic catalysts, many of which are chiral, allowing efficient asymmetric synthesis. It uses hydrogen donor compounds such as formic acid, isopropanol or dihydroanthracene, dehydrogenating them to CO2, acetone, or anthracene respectively. Often, the donor molecules also function as solvents for the reaction. A large scale application of transfer hydrogenation is coal liquefaction using "donor solvents" such as tetralin.

The Rubottom oxidation is a useful, high-yielding chemical reaction between silyl enol ethers and peroxyacids to give the corresponding α-hydroxy carbonyl product. The mechanism of the reaction was proposed in its original disclosure by A.G. Brook with further evidence later supplied by George M. Rubottom. After a Prilezhaev-type oxidation of the silyl enol ether with the peroxyacid to form the siloxy oxirane intermediate, acid-catalyzed ring-opening yields an oxocarbenium ion. This intermediate then participates in a 1,4-silyl migration to give an α-siloxy carbonyl derivative that can be readily converted to the α-hydroxy carbonyl compound in the presence of acid, base, or a fluoride source.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pyruvate dehydrogenase</span> Class of enzymes

Pyruvate dehydrogenase is an enzyme that catalyzes the reaction of pyruvate and a lipoamide to give the acetylated dihydrolipoamide and carbon dioxide. The conversion requires the coenzyme thiamine pyrophosphate.

In organic chemistry, the Ei mechanism, also known as a thermal syn elimination or a pericyclic syn elimination, is a special type of elimination reaction in which two vicinal (adjacent) substituents on an alkane framework leave simultaneously via a cyclic transition state to form an alkene in a syn elimination. This type of elimination is unique because it is thermally activated and does not require additional reagents, unlike regular eliminations, which require an acid or base, or would in many cases involve charged intermediates. This reaction mechanism is often found in pyrolysis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lactate dehydrogenase</span> Class of enzymes

Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH or LD) is an enzyme found in nearly all living cells. LDH catalyzes the conversion of pyruvate to lactate and back, as it converts NAD+ to NADH and back. A dehydrogenase is an enzyme that transfers a hydride from one molecule to another.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diisopinocampheylborane</span> Chemical compound

Diisopinocampheylborane is an organoborane that is useful for asymmetric synthesis. This colourless solid is the precursor to a range of related reagents. The compound was reported in 1961 by Zweifel and Brown in a pioneering demonstration of asymmetric synthesis using boranes. The reagent is mainly used for the synthesis of chiral secondary alcohols.

Enantioselective ketone reductions convert prochiral ketones into chiral, non-racemic alcohols and are used heavily for the synthesis of stereodefined alcohols.

Intramolecular reactions of diazocarbonyl compounds include addition to carbon–carbon double bonds to form fused cyclopropanes and insertion into carbon–hydrogen bonds or carbon–carbon bonds.

References

  1. "2457 | C5H8O3 | ChemSpider".
  2. "Ethyl Pyruvate, 98%". Acros Organics. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
  3. "Ethyl pyruvate natural, 95%". Sigma Aldrich. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
  4. "Ethyl Pyruvate." ChemExper. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2013. <http://www.chemexper.com/cheminfo/servlet/org.dbcreator.MainServlet?query=entry._entryID=6445>.
  5. "Chem Spider". Chem Spider. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  6. Ethyl pyruvate protects rats from phosgene-induced pulmonary edema by inhibiting cyclooxygenase2 and inducible nitric oxide synthase expression. Chen, Hong-li; Bai, Hua; Xi, Miao-miao; Liu, Riu; Qin, Xu-jun; Liang, Xin; Zhang, Wei; Zhang, Xiao-di; Li, Wen-li; Hai, Chun-xu. Department of Toxicology, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, 710032, China. Epub 2011 Aug 5.
  7. Therapeutic treatment with ethyl pyruvate attenuates the severity of liver injury in rats with severe acute pancreatitis. Luan, Zheng-Gang; Zhang, Hao; Ma, Xiao-Chun; Zhang, Cheng; Guo, Ren-Xuan. Department of Intensive Care Unit, The First Hospital, China Medical University, Shenyang, China.
  8. Beneficial effects of sodium or ethyl pyruvate after traumatic brain injury in the rat. Nobuhiro Moro, Richard L. Sutton. Department of Neurosurgery, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc.
  9. Olek, Robert Antonini; Ziolkowski, Wieslaw; Kaczor, Jan Jacek; Wierzba, Tomasz Henryk; Antosiewicz, Jedrzej."Higher Hypochlorous Acid Scavenging Activity of Ethyl Pyruvate Compared to its Sodium Salt" Biosci, Biotechnol, Biochem., 75 (3),(2011). 500-504.
  10. Gravenfors, Ylva, et al. "New Aminoimidazoles as β-Secretase (BACE-1) Inhibitors Showing Amyloid-β (Aβ) Lowering in Brain." Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 55.21 (2012): 9297-9311.
  11. "ethyl pyruvate - Compound Summary" . Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  12. "Ethyl lactate". sigmaaldrich.com. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  13. "Ethyl pyruvate". sigmaaldrich.com. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  14. Preparation of α-keto esters by oxidation of hydroxy esters. Kurata, Takeo; Kobayashi, Makoto; Arimura, Tomohiro; Sekiguchi, Takayuki. Musashino Chemical Laboratory Ltd., Japan. May 9, 2002.
  15. Ibanez, M.F.; Vetere, V.; Santori, G.F.; Casella, M.L.; Ferretti, O.A."Enantioselective Hydrogenation of Ethyl Pyruvate with Cinchonidine Modified Pt/SiO2 and PtSn/SiO2 Catalysts" The Journal of the Argentine Chemical Society. Vol. 91 (2003). 63-72.