as used herein , the term “ derivative ” means any of formulas ii - vi . the invention incorporates both tml and tml derivatives . as such , any mention of tml also encapsulates the tml derivative compounds . reference to a chain , such as an alkyl , can mean either the branched or unbranched chain unless otherwise noted . an “ alkyl ”, as used herein , means either a branched or unbranched alkyl chain , and includes , for example , methyl , ethyl , n - propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , sec - butyl , isobutyl , tert - butyl , n - pentyl . as used herein , “ dilute ” means ten percent or less in solution . the phrase “ pharmaceutically acceptable ” indicates that the designated carrier , vehicle , diluent , excipient ( s ), and / or salt must be chemically and / or physically compatible with the other ingredients comprising the formulation , and physiologically compatible with the recipient thereof . as shown in equation 1 , the conversion of carboxylic group of the tml carboxylic group will be achieved by acid catalyzed nucleophilic addition of methanol , ethanol and higher alcohol homologues to produce methyl ester ( r ′; ch3 ), ethylester ( r ′; c2h5 ), and higher ester respectively . the tml methyl ester ( iii ; r ′; ch3 ) can be prepared by taking a suspension of tml in excess methanol , followed by saturation of the reaction mixture with anhydrous hydrogen chloride , the mixture is to be evaporated and the excess of hcl to be removed , to give crude solid . the mixture can then be neutralized carefully to neutral ph . in the absence of free carboxylic acid the quarternary ammonium nitrogen of tml methyl ester would form a hydroxide salt , the crude product can subsequently be purified by ion exchange chromatography to get pure tml methyl ester . the higher ester homologs ( iii ; r ′; c2h5 , c3h7 n and iso , c4h9 , n and iso , pentyl , n and iso ) can be similarly prepared under similar reaction condition . the aromatic esters can be similarly prepared . the esterification reaction generally takes longer reaction time in presence of anhydrous hci ( equation 1 ). the reaction can be shown as follows , with r ′ as defined above . as shown in equation 2 , below , the synthesis of amidites of tml - carboxylic acid esters can be achieved in a straightforward manner from the formula iii , below , under mild basic conditions using dilute naoh , dilute koh , dilute barium hydroxide , or tertiary amines such as , triethylamine , diisopropyl ethylamine , and protection of the alpha - amino group with aliphatic and aromatic acid chlorides or acid anhydride , followed by neutralization of excess base , extraction of protected tml , and ion - exchange chromatography . the trimethylammonium group of the compounds formulas v , would exist in the salt form . the acid chloride could be chosen from a group of r ″ protecting groups , represented by r ″, such as acetyl chloride , ethyl acetyl chloride , propyl acetyl ( normal and iso ) chloride ; butyl acetyl ( normal and branched ) chloride ; pentyl acetyl ( normal and branched ) chloride or the corresponding acid anhydrides . further the acid chloride could be from a group , such as compounds represented by trifluoromethyl acid anhydride , trichloromethylacetic anhydride , and further various aromatic , substituted aromatic , heterocyclic substituted heterocyclic acid chloride can be taken for the substitution and protection of the alpha amino group of tml derivative represented by formula iii . the higher homologs of formula v can similarly be prepared . as shown in equation 3 , below , the synthesis of amidites of tml - carboxylic acid ( formula iv ) can be similarly be achieved best from tml under basic conditions using dilute naoh , dilute koh , dilute barium hydroxide , or tertiary amines such as , triethylamine , diisopropyl ethylamine , and aliphatic and aromatic acid chlorides or acid anhydride , followed by treatment of the reaction mixture with water to hydrolyze the mixed anhydride formed on the carboxylic function . this step was followed by extraction of protected tml , and ion - exchange chromatography . the trimethylammonium group of the compound of formula iv , would preferably exist in the internal salt form . r ″ is an alkyl having 1 to 5 carbon atoms or ch3 . in another embodiment , the acid chloride is trifluoromethyl acid anhydride and trichloromethylacetic anhydride . the skilled artisan will understand that the same or similar reaction can be carried out with r ″ being an aromatic ring , a substituted aromatic ring , a heterocyclic ring , and a substituted heterocyclic ring , the acid chloride of these can thus protect the alpha amino group of tml derivative represented by formula iii . the higher homologs of formula v can similarly be prepared . as depicted in equation 4 , below , the synthesis of aliphatic chain substituted tml can best be obtained starting with aliphatic chain substituted l - lysine . many such derivatives of lysine are available . thus as an example , tetradeutrated l - lysine ( l - lysine 4 , 4 , 5 , 5 - d4 l - lysine 0 . 2hci ). compounds within formula ( vii ) are commercially available from cambridge isotope laboratories inc ., andover , mass . additional deutrated l - lysine can similarly be obtained commercially or custom produced by such companies . from such aliphatic chain modified l - lysine , aliphatic chain modified tml can be produced by the method outlined in the method of synthesis of tml in the present invention . since the aliphatic chain substitutions proposed in claim are chemically non reactive , the l - lysine to tml conversion would follow straightforward similar to our example of tml synthesis . the value of a , b , b ′, c , c ′, d , d ′, e , e ′ can independently be selected from the group consisting of h , deuterium , methyl , ethyl , propyl ( normal and iso ), butyl ( normal and branched ), and pentyl ( normal and branched ). subsequently the carboxylic group could be esterified as exemplified in equation 1 , above , leading to synthesis of compounds with r ′ being h , deuterium in one or more carbons of the aliphatic chain of tml , methyl ; ethyl ; propyl normal and iso ); butyl ( normal and branched ); pentyl ( normal and branched ), further , r ′ could be aromatic , substituted aromatic , heterocyclic , substituted heterocyclic , can be synthesized similarly . synthesis of 1 - lysine , having carbon bound deuterium and n15 labelled l - lysine can be achieved using the procedure as demonstrated by weissman and schoenheimer ( n . weissman r . schoenheimer , j . biol . chem . 140 , 549 , 1943 ˜. the procedure , which consists of a multistep process , allows deuterium and n15 labeling in the process . with appropriately labeled lysine , the synthesis of appropriately labeled tml will proceed as demonstrated in equation 1 , outline in the improved process of making tml . the selective synthesis of esters of tml , and other derivatives , as shown in the above examples can be achieved based on the principle and practical details abundant in literature for selective esterification of the carboxylic acid functionality of large number of amino acids . the details can be found in a number of text books of amino acid chemistry , such as ( i ) amino acid derivatives , a practical approach , editor graham c . barrett , oxford university press , 1999 ( ii ) amino acids and peptide synthesis by john jones , oxford university press , 1992 . starting raw material : l - lysine hcl ( sigma - aldrich , st . louis , mo . ), dimethylsulfate ( 99 . 99 %) sigma - aldrich , st . louis , mo . ), alkaline copper carbonate ( sigma - aldrich , st . louis , mo . ), double distilled water ( highly purified ), whatman 3mm chromatography blotting paper ( whatman inc ., florham park , n . j . ), sodium hydroxide ( naoh , 99 %+) ( sigma - aldrich , st . louis , mo . ), dowex sowx8 ion exchange column ( the dow chemical company , midland , mich .). l - lysine hcl ( 50 gm ; 0 . 274 mol ) was dissolved in distilled water ( 500 ml ) and copper carbonate basic ( 72 gm ; 0 . 326 mol ) was added . the mixture was boiled at 85 centigrade for 10 minutes . the reaction mixture was cooled to room temperature and filtered with whatman 3mm paper . the clear filtrate was mixed with dimethylsulfate , 100 ml ( 1 . 055 mol ) at room temperature , after which 325 ml of aq . sodiumhydroxide solution ( 10 % aq . ; 1 . 055 mol ; w / v , in dd water ) was added drop - wise during 30 minutes , then stirred at room temperature for 60 min . a 17 ″ height × 2 ″ dia dowex5ow × 8 ion exchange column ( h + form ) was washed with deionized water prior to the addition of the tml solution . the solution containing the tml was then added to the dowex5ow × 8 column . the column was copiously washed with 500 ml of distilled water . this process was repeated with 1700 ml water and 1000 ml and 700 ml fractions were collected . the collection and monitoring of these fractions were accomplished by thing layer chromatography ( tlc ) and ninhydrin color tests . subsequently , 2m ammonium hydroxide solution was run and 8 fractions ( each fraction 50 ml , followed by 100 ml ) were collected . tlc analysis was performed on all the fractions ( tic system : meoh : water : aceticacid :: 80 : 10 : 10 ). these fractions are detailed in table c below . 1 . the ion - exchange purification on dowex 50wx8 inch column length 17 “ heightx2 ” diameter . first elution ( fraction 1 ) 100 ml water ; subsequent elution in . 5m aq nh 3 , 200 ml ; subsequent elution in 1m aq nh 3 ; 200 ml ; followed by last elution in 2m aq nh 3 ; 500 ml . 2 . tlc solvent system methanol : water : acetic acid :: 80 : 10 : 10 was used to check all fractions after staining the tlc plate with ninhydrin solution and observing colored stained band . 3 . fractions 5 to 10 were pure fractions , so they were combined and evaporated . the eight fractions were combined and evaporated to yield an oil . the oil was subsequently lyophilized at room temperature to yield a solid . the solid was triturated in acetonitrile and filtered and washed with acetonitrile again . the solid was dissolved in methanol / water ( 95 : 5 :: methanol : ddwater ) and filtered with glass micro filter paper and the filtrate was evaporated and lyophilized . a larger scale synthesis has been achieved , which is further amenable to large - scale production of tml . the larger scale synthesis of tml incorporating step of final clean up to achieve purity of at least 98 % or greater , and free of foreign materials , has been demonstrated . the procedure in prior art literature does not teach synthesis of high purity tml or tml derivative , which could be applicable to pharmaceutical - grade product . therefore , new methods were invented for the purpose . the purification steps that allow larger scale synthesis can be described as follows : 1 . running crude tml or tml derivative through an ion exchange resin column ; 2 . washing the ion exchange resin column with at least 4 times the volume of water as the amount of present crude tml or tml derivative ; 3 . eluting the washed tml or tml derivative from the ion exchange resin column ; 4 . freezing the eluted solution and then lyophilize at room temperature to prevent or minimize any decomposition of obtained tml or tml derivative ; and 5 . triturating the lyophilized solid tml or tml derivative . 6 . dissolving the triturated tml or tml derivative into a polar solvent ; 7 . filtering the dissolved tml or tml derivative through a microglass membrane filter ; and 8 . lyophilizing the filtered tml or tml derivative at room temperature . this process is an improvement of what is disclosed in frederic m . vaz , bela melegh , judit bene , dean cuebas , douglas a . gage , albert bootsma , peter vreken , albert h . van gennip , loran l . bieber and ronald j . a . wanders , clin . chem . 48 : 6 , 826 - 834 , 2002 . a . tlc &# 39 ; samples 1 and 2 were purified tml made according to the invention . sample 3 was a reference tml purchased from sigma - aldrich . the tic plates were baker - flex silica gel 1b - f . tlc purity &# 39 ; was greater than 99 %, and the spots were observed after staining the spot with ninhydrin ( 10 % in methanol ) ( fig1 ). b . 1h nmr : the 1h nmr ( proton in d 2 0 ) was run on 300 mhz ; 1 . 3932 ppm ( methylene at c - 2 ; 2h , broad singlet ), 1 . 6643 ppm ( methylene at c - 3 2h , broad , multiplet ); 2 . 13 ppm ( methylene at c - 4 ; 2h , broad singlet ), 3 . 2928 ppm ( methylene proton at c - 5 , 2h ; triplet ); 3 . 2167 ppm ( alpha h ; 1h ; triplet ); 3 . 0798 ppm ( trimethyl h ′ s ; 9h )( fig2 a and 2b ). c . mass spectrum : chemical formula c 9 h 20 n202 , molecular weight ; 189 . 28 . four major fragmentation peaks were observed in positive mode ; m / e 189 . 3 , m / e 211 . 2 (+ na ion ), m / e 377 . 5 ( possibly dimer formation ) and m / e 399 . 5 ( possibly na + ion addition on dimmer ) ( fig3 ). the tml synthesized ( as described above ) had no external salt . the carboxylic group ( which is negatively charged ) and the trimethyl group ( which is positively charged ) form an internal salt . the alpha amino group picks up the proton from the ionized carboxylic group . the molecular weight of this tml is 188 . 3 from our mass spectral analysis ( positive ion ) we get the molecular ion peak at 189 . 28 ( one extra mass in positive ion is proton adding from matrix ). this data confirms mw of 188 . 3 . the skilled artisan will understand that tml can exist as an external salt as well , such as a potassium salt .