Abstract
The amount of isovaleraldehyde produced by the reaction of L-leucine with various carbonyl compounds including degradation products of sugar was determined, and relative reactivities of these carbonyl compounds in Strecker degradation were compared. The relatively high reactivity of DL-glyceraldehyde in Strecker degradation was considered to be partly due to the formation of pyruvaldehyde which was isolated as its bis-2, 4-dinitrophenyl-hydrazone from the reaction mixture of L-leucine and DL-glyceraldehyde. Formation mechanism of pyruvaldehyde was also proposed.
