The reaction of bis (glycinato) copper (II) with vinyl acetate or acetaldehyde in the presence of basic catalyst has been studied in oder to prepare threonine without accompanied formation of allothronine.
The stronger is the basicity or the higher is the concentration of the catalyst, the higher are both the yield of threonine and the ratio of throonine/allothreonine.
The reaction time and the temperature influence both the yield and the products ratio, which varies from 1.0 to 7.7.
During the reaction, allothrenine produced decomposes or isomerizes to threonine. Therefore, threonine is obtained in greater yield than allothreonine.
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