Homologous synthesis: a method for the preparation of mixed substrates and individual compounds

Equimolar mixtures of several homologous or vinylogous alkyl methanesulfonates (mesylates) are converted, by a series of reactions, into equimolar mixtures of compounds having one methylene group more, per molecule, than the starting material. Such mixtures can be used for studying the specificity of an enzymatic reaction in a single experiment in vivo or in vitro. The simultaneous synthesis of a mixture of compounds is also of great advantage in the preparation of a series of radioactively labelled substances. It is more convenient and much more efficient to prepare several labelled compounds of a homologous or vinylogous series in a single reaction, and to isolate each of them by chromatographic methods, than to synthesize the individual substances separately.