Acetic Acid → L-Theanine

Participants

Reaction Steps

First, 5.0 g (31 mmol) of L-glutamic acid-γ-methyl ester was suspended in 45 g of toluene. To this, 15 g (233 mmol) of acetylacetone and 5.6 g (93 mmol) of acetic acid were added. The mixture was heated for 2 hours while removing water generated by use of an ester tube at 100° C. to 110° C. The solvent was removed to obtain 7.9 g of a yellow oily substance. To the oily substance, 13.5 g (210 mmol) of 70% ethylamine was added and allowed to react for 23 hours. The same procedure as in Example 1 was performed to obtain 0.2 g of theanine (yield: 5.5%).

Provenance & Evidence