Synthesis of regioisomeric dimethylbenzyl mercapturic acids anticipated from the metabolism of 1,2,3-trimethylbenzene

The synthesis of two regioisomeric mercapturic acids, N-acetyl-S-(2,3-dimethylbenzyl) -L-cysteine and N-acetyl-S-(2,6-dimethylbenzyl)-L-cysteine, was undertaken to investigate the operation of mercapturic acid pathway in the metabolism of 1,2,3-trimethylbenzene. The method applied was based on that we described recently in the synthesis of mercapturic acids derived from m- and p-xylenes.