Chemistry of Alkylation

  • Charles C. Price
Chapter
Part of the Handbuch der experimentellen Pharmakologie / Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology book series (HEP, volume 38 / 2)

Abstract

The alkylation reaction may be defined as the conversion
$${\rm{H - X + R - Y}} \to {\rm{R - X + }}{{\rm{H}}^{\rm{ + }}} + {{\rm{Y}}^{\rm{ - }}},$$
(1)
where R represents an alkyl or substituted alkyl group. In the biological context, the substrate X is usually a nucleic acid or protein molecule, which is alkylated on nitrogen, sulfur, or oxygen. This chapter will consider the chemical mechanisms by which such conversions may be accomplished and the effect of the detailed structure of R, X, and Y on the course of the conversion (for earlier reviews, see Price, 1958, 1967, 1969). Normally, the solvent medium can seriously affect the course of alkylation reactions, but in the biological context we are concerned solely with aqueous media and therefore changes due to solvent are negligible.

Keywords

Alkylating Agent Methyl Bromide Sulfur Mustard Nitrogen Mustard Cationic Polymerization 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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References

  1. Crist, D.R., Leonard, N. J.: Small charged heterocycles. Angew. Chem. 8, 962–974 (1969).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag Berlin • Heidelberg 1975

Authors and Affiliations

  • Charles C. Price

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