chemchem - 10-4-2005 at 06:08
i have a question hopefully someone can help me with..?? Would an amino acid ,for example phenylalanine , of whichever isomer,loose its clarial centre
during a decarboxylation synthesis ?? would the product be 2-phenylalanine what ever isomer one used ?? i believe the answer is yes , but i would
really apreciate and comments ?? thanks --phenethylamine is found in chocolates and has a strong fishy freebase smell !!
sparkgap - 10-4-2005 at 10:37
First, you ought to take note that PEA, your target compound, has no chiral centers whatsoever. (Sketch its structure if you believe otherwise).
Now, phenylalanine looks something like Ph-CH<sub>2</sub>-CH(NH<sub>2</sub>
-COOH. Removing the -COOH group shoul now yield
Ph-CH<sub>2</sub>CH<sub>2</sub>NH<sub>2</sub>, which, if you look carefully, is 2-phenylethylamine (not
2-phenylalanine as you have mentioned).
Oh, and when your product is achiral, the chirality of your starting material usually doesn't matter!
sparky (^_^)