Chloroacetic Acid → S-carboxymethyl-N-(2-carboxymethylthio-2-methylpropanoyl)-L-cysteine

Participants

Reaction Steps

N-(2-Mercapto-2-methylpropanoyl)-L-cysteine (11.2 g, 0.05 mol) is dissolved in 1 M potassium carbonate and monochloroacetic acid (11.3 g, 0.12 mol) and potassium iodide (1.0 g) are added. The mixture is stirred overnight at room temperature under a nitrogen atmosphere and acidified with 6 N hydrochloric acid. Sodium chloride is added and the mixture is extracted with ethyl acetate. The organic layer is washed with saturated sodium chloride solution, dried and concentrated to dryness to yield 16.5 g (97.2%) of S-carboxymethyl-N-(2-carboxymethylthio-2-methylpropanoyl)-L-cysteine.

Provenance & Evidence