L-Leucine → Benzoyl-L-leucine

Participants

Reaction Steps

Benzoyl chloride (4.22 g, 0.030 mol) and 10% NaOH (12 ml, 0.030 mol) were added separately with vigorous stirring to a solution of L-leucine (3.94 g, 0.030 mol) in 150 ml of distilled water at ice bath temperature. The reaction was allowed to proceed at this temperature until the reaction mixture became clear (30 minutes); it was then extracted with ethyl acetate (2×100 ml). The aqueous layer was separated, acidified to pH 2 with 10% HCl, and extracted with ethyl acetate (3×50 ml). The ethyl acetate extract was dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate. After filtration, the filtrate was evaporated in vacuo to yield quantitative amount of N-benzoyl-L-leucine as a semi-solid which was used directly for the following step.

Provenance & Evidence