Abstract
Synthesis of oligo-β-amino acids by heating acrylamide (AAm), methacrylamide (MAAm), and crotonamide (CAm) in a sealed tube in the presence of aqueous ammonia was studied under various conditions. In the case of AAm, β, β′, β″ -nitrilotripropionamide which is the adduct of AAm and NH3 aq. was obtained in the early stage of the reaction, and it was converted to β-alanine amide. Oligo-β-alanine was then prepared by polycondensation of the β-alanine amide. In the case of MAAm and CAm, β-amino acid amides were obtained by the addition of ammonia to MAAm or CAm, and then oligo-β-amino acids were prepared by polycondensation of the β-amino acid amides. The reaction rates of AAm, MAAm, CAm, and tiglinamide (TAm) were in the following order: AAm>MAAm>CAm>TAm. The reaction of AAm and various organic amines was also investigated.
