Discussion on the dimerization reaction of penicillin antibiotics

Penicillins are one type of the most important antibiotics used in the clinic.Control of drug impurity profiles is an important part of ensuring drug safety.This is particularly important in penicillins where polymerization can lead to polymers as elicitors of passive cutaneous anaphylaxis.The current understanding of penicillin polymerization is based on reactions with amino groups,but no comprehensive mechanistic understanding has been reported.Here,we used theoretical calculations and column switching-LC/MS techniques to study penicillin dimerization.Ampicillin and benzylpenicillin were selected as representative penicillins with or without amino groups in the side chain,respectively.We identified four pathways by which this may occur and the energy barrier graphs of each reaction process were given.For benzylpenicillin without an amino group in the 6-side chain,dimerization mode A is the dominant mode,where the 2-carboxyl group of one molecule reacts with the b-lactam of another molecule.However,ampicillin with an amino group in the 6-side chain favors dimerization mode C,where the amino group of one molecule attacks the b-lactam of another molecule.These findings can lead to a polymer control approach to maintaining penicillin antibiotics in an active formulation.

Stability improvement of the Nieuwland catalyst in the dimerization of acetylene to monovinylacetylene

In the process of dimerization of acetylene to produce monovinylacetylene （MVA）,the loss of active component CuCl in the Nieuwland catalyst due to the formation of a dark red precipitate was investigated.The formula of the precipitate was CuCl·2C2H2·1/5NH 3,and it was presumed to be formed by the combination of NH 3,C2H2 and [Cu]-acetylene π-complex,which was an intermediate in the dimerization reaction.The addition of hydrochloric acid into the catalyst can reduce the formation of precipitate,whereas excessive H＋ is unfavorable to the dimerization reaction of acetylene.To balance between high acetylene conversion and low loss rate of CuCl,the optimum mass percentage of HCl in the added hydrochloric acid was determined.The result showed the optimum mass percentage of HCl decreased from 5.0% to 3.2% when the space velocity of acetylene was from 140 h-1 to 360 h-1.The result in this work also indicated the pH of the Nieuwland catalyst should be kept in the range of 5.80-5.97 during the reaction process,which was good for both catalyst life and acetylene conversion.

Effect of solvent on catalytic performance of anhydrous catalyst in acetylene dimerization to monovinylacetylene

The production of monovinylacetylene （MVA） through Cu（I）-catalyzed acetylene dimerization reaction was performed in different reaction media. Based on the analyses of crystals precipitated from the catalyst solution and UV-Vis spectra of the catalysts, the reaction mechanism and solvent dependence were studied. The highest yield of MVA can be obtained when dimethylformamide is used as solvent because of its strong coordination ability to Cu（I）. The activation of C=C bond is presumed to be improved when the catalytic metal ion is coordinated by a solvent with less steric hindrance and electron-rich coordination atom. The results of the present study provide a possible way to accelerate the metal-catalyzed homogeneous reaction of alkyne substrates through careful selection of a solvent.

Influence of Molecular Structure on the Dimerization Reactivity of Germaaromatic Compounds: a Theoretical Study

Density functional theory （DFT） calculations, at the B3LYP/6-311G＊＊ level of theory, were performed to study the reaction mechanism and potenti4the potential energy surface of the studied reactions was investigated. Our calculation results show that [2 ＋ 2] and [4 ＋ 4] reactions are concerted and synchronous processes; while [4 ＋ 2] reactions proceed via a concerted but asynchronous way in general. [2 ＋ 2] and [4 ＋ 2] reactions of germabenzenes and 1-germana- phthalene proceed much more easily than the corresponding [4 ＋ 4] reaction, both thermo- dynamically and kinetically; while most [4 ＋ 2] paths have lower activation barrier than the corres- ponding [2 ＋ 2] ones. As the number of six-membered aromatic rings in reactant molecules becomes larger, [2 ＋ 2], [4 ＋ 2] and [4 ＋ 4] reactions become easier to proceed. The influence of substituents at the Ge atom of germabenzenes on the potential energy surface of [2 ＋ 2] and [4 ＋ 2] reactions correlates with their electronic properties and volume. Solvent effect is not crucial for the potential energy surfaces of the studied reactions.