A beta-lactam (β-lactam) ring is a four-membered lactam. A lactam is a cyclic amide, and beta-lactams are named so because the nitrogen atom is attached to the β-carbon atom relative to the carbonyl. The simplest β-lactam possible is 2-azetidinone. β-lactams are significant structural units of medicines as manifested in many β-lactam antibiotics. Up to 1970, most β-lactam research was concerned with the penicillin and cephalosporin groups, but since then, a wide variety of structures have been described.
Pyridine is a basic heterocyclic organic compound with the chemical formula C5H5N. It is structurally related to benzene, with one methine group (=CH−) replaced by a nitrogen atom (=N−). It is a highly flammable, weakly alkaline, water-miscible liquid with a distinctive, unpleasant fish-like smell. Pyridine is colorless, but older or impure samples can appear yellow, due to the formation of extended, unsaturated polymeric chains, which show significant electrical conductivity. The pyridine ring occurs in many important compounds, including agrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, and vitamins. Historically, pyridine was produced from coal tar. As of 2016, it is synthesized on the scale of about 20,000 tons per year worldwide.
β-lactam antibiotics are antibiotics that contain a beta-lactam ring in their chemical structure. This includes penicillin derivatives (penams), cephalosporins and cephamycins (cephems), monobactams, carbapenems and carbacephems. Most β-lactam antibiotics work by inhibiting cell wall biosynthesis in the bacterial organism and are the most widely used group of antibiotics. Until 2003, when measured by sales, more than half of all commercially available antibiotics in use were β-lactam compounds. The first β-lactam antibiotic discovered, penicillin, was isolated from a strain of Penicillium rubens.
In organic chemistry, a dicarbonyl is a molecule containing two carbonyl groups. Although this term could refer to any organic compound containing two carbonyl groups, it is used more specifically to describe molecules in which both carbonyls are in close enough proximity that their reactivity is changed, such as 1,2-, 1,3-, and 1,4-dicarbonyls. Their properties often differ from those of monocarbonyls, and so they are usually considered functional groups of their own. These compounds can have symmetrical or unsymmetrical substituents on each carbonyl, and may also be functionally symmetrical or unsymmetrical.
Thiazole, or 1,3-thiazole, is a 5-membered heterocyclic compound that contains both sulfur and nitrogen. The term 'thiazole' also refers to a large family of derivatives. Thiazole itself is a pale yellow liquid with a pyridine-like odor and the molecular formula C3H3NS. The thiazole ring is notable as a component of the vitamin thiamine (B1).
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.
In organic chemistry, the Mannich reaction is a three-component organic reaction that involves the amino alkylation of an acidic proton next to a carbonyl functional group by formaldehyde and a primary or secondary amine or ammonia. The final product is a β-amino-carbonyl compound also known as a Mannich base. Reactions between aldimines and α-methylene carbonyls are also considered Mannich reactions because these imines form between amines and aldehydes. The reaction is named after Carl Mannich.
In organic chemistry, a hemiaminal is a functional group or type of chemical compound that has a hydroxyl group and an amine attached to the same carbon atom: −C(OH)(NR2)−. R can be hydrogen or an alkyl group. Hemiaminals are intermediates in imine formation from an amine and a carbonyl by alkylimino-de-oxo-bisubstitution. Hemiaminals can be viewed as a blend of aminals and geminal diol. They are a special case of amino alcohols.
Organosulfur chemistry is the study of the properties and synthesis of organosulfur compounds, which are organic compounds that contain sulfur. They are often associated with foul odors, but many of the sweetest compounds known are organosulfur derivatives, e.g., saccharin. Nature is abound with organosulfur compounds—sulfur is vital for life. Of the 20 common amino acids, two are organosulfur compounds, and the antibiotics penicillin and sulfa drugs both contain sulfur. While sulfur-containing antibiotics save many lives, sulfur mustard is a deadly chemical warfare agent. Fossil fuels, coal, petroleum, and natural gas, which are derived from ancient organisms, necessarily contain organosulfur compounds, the removal of which is a major focus of oil refineries.
Dynamic covalent chemistry (DCvC) is a synthetic strategy employed by chemists to make complex molecular and supramolecular assemblies from discrete molecular building blocks. DCvC has allowed access to complex assemblies such as covalent organic frameworks, molecular knots, polymers, and novel macrocycles. Not to be confused with dynamic combinatorial chemistry, DCvC concerns only covalent bonding interactions. As such, it only encompasses a subset of supramolecular chemistries.
Penams are the primary skeleton structures that define the penicillin subclass of the broader β-lactam family of antibiotics and related compounds. They are bicyclic ring systems containing a β-lactam moiety fused with a five-member thiazolidine ring. Due to ring strain and limitations on amide resonance, the structure is unstable and highly susceptible to catalytic cleavage at the amide bond. Benzylpenicillin is the natural product parent that contains the penam structure.
In organic chemistry, umpolung or polarity inversion is the chemical modification of a functional group with the aim of the reversal of polarity of that group. This modification allows secondary reactions of this functional group that would otherwise not be possible. The concept was introduced by D. Seebach and E.J. Corey. Polarity analysis during retrosynthetic analysis tells a chemist when umpolung tactics are required to synthesize a target molecule.
The Prins reaction is an organic reaction consisting of an electrophilic addition of an aldehyde or ketone to an alkene or alkyne followed by capture of a nucleophile or elimination of an H+ ion. The outcome of the reaction depends on reaction conditions. With water and a protic acid such as sulfuric acid as the reaction medium and formaldehyde the reaction product is a 1,3-diol (3). When water is absent, the cationic intermediate loses a proton to give an allylic alcohol (4). With an excess of formaldehyde and a low reaction temperature the reaction product is a dioxane (5). When water is replaced by acetic acid the corresponding esters are formed.
The Gabriel–Colman rearrangement is the chemical reaction of a saccharin or phthalimido ester with a strong base, such as an alkoxide, to form substituted isoquinolines. First described in 1900 by chemists Siegmund Gabriel and James Colman, this rearrangement, a ring expansion, is seen to be general if there is an enolizable hydrogen on the group attached to the nitrogen, since it is necessary for the nitrogen to abstract a hydrogen to form the carbanion that will close the ring. As shown in the case of the general example below, X is either CO or SO2.
Imidazolidine is a heterocyclic compound (CH2)2(NH)2CH2. The parent imidazolidine is lightly studied, but related compounds substituted on one or both nitrogen centers are more common. Generally, they are colorless, polar, basic compounds. Imidazolidines are cyclic 5-membered examples of the general class of aminals.
Bioconjugation is a chemical strategy to form a stable covalent link between two molecules, at least one of which is a biomolecule.
In chemistry, ureas are a class of organic compounds with the formula (R2N)2CO where R = H, alkyl, aryl, etc. Thus, in addition to describing the specific chemical compound urea ((H2N)2CO), urea is the name of a functional group that is found in many compounds and materials of both practical and theoretical interest. Generally ureas are colorless crystalline solids, which, owing to the presence of fewer hydrogen bonds, exhibit melting points lower than that of urea itself.
The Criegee oxidation is a glycol cleavage reaction in which vicinal diols are oxidized to form ketones and aldehydes using lead tetraacetate. It is analogous to the use of periodate but uses a milder oxidant. This oxidation was discovered by Rudolf Criegee and coworkers and first reported in 1931 using ethylene glycol as the substrate.
4-Vinylpyridine (4-VP) is an organic compound with the formula CH2CHC5H4N. It is a derivative of pyridine with a vinyl group in the 4-position. It is a colorless liquid, although impure samples are often brown. It is a monomeric precursor to specialty polymers. 4-Vinylpyridine is prepared by the condensation of 4-methylpyridine and formaldehyde.
1,3-Oxathiolane is an organosulfur compound with the formula (CH2)3OS. It is a saturated five-membered heterocycle with non-adjacent S and O atoms. It is the parent of numerous derivatives. The parent compound is of little practical value, but there is some biotechnological interest in derivatives where one or more H atoms are replaced by other substituents.
