In the domestic hen phenylacetic acid is excreted conjugated mainly with ornithine (Totani, 1910), but in the pigeon it is excreted conjugated with taurine and glycine (James et al., 1972). This difference between the hen and pigeon has now been further investigated with several arylacetic acids. The compounds used were 14C-carboxy-labelled phenylacetic acid, 4-chloroand 4-nitrophenylacetic aci...

Phenylacetylene and biphenylacetylene are oxidized by cytochrome P-450 to the corresponding arylacetic acids. The acetylenic hydrogen shifts to the adjacent carbon and one atom of molecular oxygen is incorporated into the carboxylic acid group in these transformations, which are subject to a large kinetic isotope effect when the acetylenic hydrogen is replaced by deuterium. The same products an...

Reactions of arylacetic acids bearing an amino group at the para-position in the benzene ring with alkenes in the presence of a catalytic amount of transition metal polypyridyl complexes as photocatalysts under visible light illumination proceed smoothly to give the corresponding benzylated products via oxidative decarboxylation in good to high yields.

Aromatic and arylalkyl carboxylic acids commonly undergo metabolic conjugation prior to excretion, the conjugating agent being either a carbohydrate or an amino acid. Among mammalian species the carbohydrate is usually glucuronic acid, but in the case of the amino acids, one or more of glycine, glutamine or taurine may be used, and the particular pattern of amino acid conjugation depends upon t...