Suut‐Tuule E, Schults E, Jarg T, Adamson J, Kananovich D, Aav R. Scalable Mechanochemical Synthesis of Biotin[6]uril.
CHEMSUSCHEM 2025;
18:e202402354. [PMID:
39745771 PMCID:
PMC12051227 DOI:
10.1002/cssc.202402354]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2024] [Revised: 12/13/2024] [Indexed: 01/18/2025]
Abstract
Biotin[6]uril, a chiral, water-soluble and anion binding macrocycle, is formed via dynamic covalent chemistry. In this study, we present a scalable and high-yielding synthesis of biotin[6]uril via a mechanochemical solid-state approach. The optimized protocol involves mechanical grinding of solid d-biotin with paraformaldehyde in the presence of 0.3 equivalents of 48 % aqueous HBr, which functions as a catalyst, template, and liquid grinding additive. This mechanochemical process is carried out in a shaker or planetary mill, followed by aging at an elevated temperature to produce biotin[6]uril with an HPLC yield of up to 96 %. The condensation and macrocyclization reaction was successfully scaled up 82-fold, producing nearly 20 g of biotin[6]uril with a high 92 % isolated yield and 91 % purity. Compared to conventional solution-based method, this mechanochemical approach offers several advantages, including significantly higher yields, shorter reaction times, enhanced scalability, simpler operational requirements, and substantially lower process mass intensity.
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