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A biocatalytic approach was employed for the asymmetric reduction of sterically demanding ketones to prepare 3-hydroxy-5-oxo-5-phenylpentanoates and 5-hydroxy-3-oxo-5-phenylpentanoates. Screening a collection of microorganisms led to the identification of stereocomplementary microbial strains that provide access to both enantiomers of 3-hydroxy-5-oxo-5-phenylpentanoates and 5-hydroxy-3-oxo-5-phenylpentanoates with high enantiomeric excess (up to 99% ee). Moreover, the application of Saccharomyces cerevisiae gave two diastereomers of 3,5-dihydroxy-5-phenylpentanoates with high enantiomeric excess (up to 99% ee). The applicability of the identified strains was demonstrated by transforming the obtained dihydroxy ester into the chemically valuable lactone (4S,6R)-tetrahydro-4-hydroxy-6-phenyl-pyran-2-one.

The (+)- as well as the (−)-enantiomer of the pyrrolizidine alkaloid xenovenine were prepared within five steps with 17 and 30% overall yields, respectively, in optically pure form, >99% ee as well as >99% de. In the asymmetric key step a transaminase performed a regio- and stereoselective monoamination of a triketone. By employing two enantiocomplementary transaminases from Arthrobacter sp. both enantiomers were accessible. The triketone was readily prepared via two steps starting from commercially available, achiral 2-(n-heptyl)furan. In the final catalytic hydrogenation step, the newly introduced chiral centre directed hydrogen addition to form preferentially the desired (5Z,8E)-diastereomer. The regio- and stereoselective amination of a single ketone moiety out of three allowed the performance of the shortest and highest yielding total synthesis of the bicyclic showcase pyrrolizidine alkaloid without the need for protecting strategies.

E. coli cells that contain overexpressed alcohol dehydrogenases (ADHs) were screened as biocatalysts for the stereoselective reduction of chloroketones 5 a–d, the corresponding halohydrins 6 a–d of which are building blocks in the synthesis of antiretroviral drugs. Among them, ADH from Sphingobium yanoikuyae was found to reduce chloroketone 5 c with a high stereoselectivity (90 % de) and conversion (85 %) to furnish threo halohydrin (R,S)-6 c. ADH from Ralstonia sp. (RasADH) was able to reduce 5 a and 5 b with complementary diastereoselectivity to provide access to both threo and erythro halohydrins through “substrate-based” stereocontrol. The RasADH-catalyzed reductions were optimized to provide (R,S)-6 a with 98 % conversion and 84 % diastereomeric excess (de) and (S,S)-6 b with 95 % conversion and 86 % de. Molecular modeling studies showed that 5 b, which features a carboxybenzyl protecting group, is able to bind to the enzyme catalytic site in an “inverted” mode in comparison to tert-butyloxycarbonyl- and methyloxycarbonyl-protected substrates 5 a and 5 c, which sheds light on the observed switching of the stereopreference. RasADH-catalyzed reductions were optimized to provide (R,S)-6 a with 98 % conversion and 84 % de and (S,S)-6 b with 95 % conversion and 86 % de.

The combination of two cofactor self-sufficient biocatalytic cascade modules allowed the successful transformation of cyclohexanol into the nylon-6 monomer 6-aminohexanoic acid at the expense of only oxygen and ammonia. A hitherto unprecedented carboxylic acid capping strategy was introduced to minimize the formation of the dead-end intermediate 6-hydroxyhexanoic acid. For this purpose, the precursor e-caprolactone was converted in aqueous medium in the presence of methanol into the corresponding methyl ester instead of the acid. Hence, it was shown for the first time that esterases--specifically horse liver esterase--can perform the selective ring-opening of e-caprolactone with a clear preference for methanol over water as the nucleophile.

Natural L-α-amino acids and L-norleucine were transformed to the corresponding α-hydroxy acids by formal biocatalytic inversion or retention of absolute configuration. The one-pot transformation was achieved by a concurrent oxidation reduction cascade in aqueous media. A representative panel of enantiopure (R)- and (S)-2-hydroxy acids possessing aliphatic, aromatic and heteroaromatic moieties were isolated in high yield (67-85 %) and enantiopure form (>99 % ee) without requiring chromatographic purification.

Deracemisierung, also die Umwandlung eines Racemats in ein enantiomerenreines Produkt mit theoretisch 100 % Ausbeute und 100 % ee, stellt eine attraktive, aber auch anspruchsvolle Option fur die asymmetrische Synthese dar. Hier beschreiben wir ein neuartiges Konzept einer chemo-enzymatischen Deracemisierung mittels einer Kaskadenreaktion. Die Reaktionsfolge beinhaltet zwei enantioselektive Oxidationsschritte und einen nicht stereoselektiven Reduktionsschritt, durch welche zur gleichen Zeit eine Stereoinversion und eine kinetische Racematspaltung realisiert werden. Dieses Konzept wird anhand der Umwandlung von rac-Benzylisochinolinen in optisch reine (S)-Berbine vorgestellt. Die racemischen Substrate wurden in enantiomerenreine Produkte (ee>97 %) umgewandelt, wobei Umsatze von bis zu 98 % und Ausbeuten von bis zu 88 % erreicht wurden.

E. B. received funding from the European Commission by a Marie Curie Actions-Intra-European Fellowship (IEF) in the project "BIOCASCADE" (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IEF). COST ACTION Systems Biocatalysis CM1303 is acknowledged

Chemo-enzymatic deracemisation was applied to obtain the (S)-enantiomer of 1-benzylisoquinolines from the racemate in high isolated yield (up to 85%) and excellent optical purity (ee > 97%). The one-pot deracemisation protocol encompassed enantioselective oxidation by a monoamine oxidase (MAO-N) and concomitant reduction of the resulting iminium species by ammonia-borane. The challenge was the oxidation at the sterically demanding chiral centre. Recently developed variants of MAO-N, featuring an enlarged active-site pocket, turned out to be suitable biocatalysts for these substrates. In contrast to previous MAO-N variants, which preferentially converted the (S)-enantiomer, the MAO-N variant D11 used in the present study was found to oxidise all tested benzylisoquinoline substrates with (R)-enantiopreference. The structural determinants of enantioselectivity were investigated by means of protein–ligand docking simulations. The applicability of the deracemisation system was demonstrated on preparative scale (150 mg) for three benzylisoquinoline alkaloids (natural as well as non-natural), including the hypotensive and antispasmodic agent (S)-reticuline.

Prochiral bicyclic diketones were transformed to a single diastereomer of 3-substituted cyclohexylamine derivatives via three consecutive biocatalytic steps. The two chiral centres were set up by a CC hydrolase (6-oxocamphor hydrolase) in the first step and by an ω-transaminase in the last step. The esterification of the intermediate keto acid was catalysed by a lipase in the second step if possible. For two substrates the CC hydrolytic step as well as the esterification could be run simultaneously in a one-pot cascade in an organic solvent. In one example, the reaction mixture of the first two steps could be directly subjected to bio-amination in an organic solvent without the need to change the reaction medium. Depending on the choice of the ω-transaminase employed and the substrate the cis- as well as the trans-diastereomers could be obtained in optically pure forms.

The (+)- as well as the (−)-enantiomer of the pyrrolizidine alkaloid xenovenine were prepared within five steps with 17 and 30% overall yields, respectively, in optically pure form, >99% ee as well as >99% de. In the asymmetric key step a transaminase performed a regio- and stereoselective monoamination of a triketone. By employing two enantiocomplementary transaminases from Arthrobacter sp. both enantiomers were accessible. The triketone was readily prepared via two steps starting from commercially available, achiral 2-(n-heptyl)furan. In the final catalytic hydrogenation step, the newly introduced chiral centre directed hydrogen addition to form preferentially the desired (5Z,8E)-diastereomer. The regio- and stereoselective amination of a single ketone moiety out of three allowed the performance of the shortest and highest yielding total synthesis of the bicyclic showcase pyrrolizidine alkaloid without the need for protecting strategies.

Various bacterial cells were tested to identify ω-transaminase activity. For this purpose, the kinetic resolution of a rac-amine was chosen as an assay reaction transforming, in the ideal case, one enantiomer into the corresponding ketone and leaving the other enantiomer untouched. Sodium pyruvate was employed as an amino acceptor. To test also for the amination of the prochiral ketone various amino donors were investigated. Alanine proved to be the most suitable amino donor especially when coupled with a pyruvate decarboxylase to shift the reaction equilibrium; however, much lower conversions were achieved compared to the kinetic resolution. Janibacter terrae DSM 13953 was identified as the most suitable microorganism to possess ω-transaminase activity.

One-pot combinations of sequential catalytic reactions can offer practical and ecological advantages over classical multi-step synthesis schemes. In this context, the integration of enzymatic and chemo-catalytic transformations holds particular potential for efficient and selective reaction sequences that would not be 10 possible using either method alone. Here we report the one-pot combination of alcohol dehydrogenasecatalysed asymmetric reduction of 2-azido ketones and Pd nanoparticle-catalysed hydrogenation of the resulting azido alcohols, which gives access to both enantiomers of aromatic 1,2-amino alcohols in high yields and excellent optical purity (ee >99%). Furthermore, we demonstrate the incorporation of an upstream azidolysis and a downstream acylation step into the one-pot system, thus establishing a highly 15 integrated synthesis of the antiviral natural product (S)-tembamide in 73% yield (ee >99%) over 4 steps. Avoiding the purification and isolation of intermediates in this synthetic sequence leads to an unprecedentedly low ecological footprint, as quantified by E-factor and solvent demand.

The enzymatic carboxylation of electron-rich aromatics, which represents a promising 'green' equivalent to the chemical Kolbe-Schmitt reaction, is thermodynamically disfavored and is therefore impeded by incomplete conversions. Optimization of the reaction conditions, such as pH, temperature, substrate concentration and the use of organic co-solvents and/or ionic liquids allowed to push the conversion in favor of carboxylation by a factor of up to 50%. Careful selection of the type of bicarbonate salt used as CO2 source was crucial to ensure optimal activities. Among two types of carboxylases tested with their natural substrates, benzoic acid decarboxylase from Rhizobium sp. proved to be significantly more stable than phenolic acid decarboxylase from Mycobacterium colombiense; it tolerated reaction temperatures of up to 50 °C and substrate concentrations of up to 100mM and allowed efficient biocatalyst recycling.

) out of six showed perfect regioselectivity forthe differentiation between the two keto groups. Hence, theamination occurred exclusively at the sterically less demand-ing w-1 ketone moiety, leading to the amino ketone 2a, whilethe w-3 position remained untouched. The intermediateamino ketone 2aspontaneously cyclized, finally giving D1-piperideine 4a. Only the w-TA from Vibrio fluvialis

α-Alkyl-β-hydroxy esters were obtained via dynamic kinetic resolution (DKR) employing purified or crude E. coli overexpressed alcohol dehydrogenases (ADHs). ADH-A from R. ruber, CPADH from C. parapsilosis and TesADH from T. ethanolicus afforded syn-(2R,3S) derivatives with very high selectivities for sterically not impeded ketones ('small-bulky' substrates), while ADHs from S. yanoikuyae (SyADH) and Ralstonia sp. (RasADH) could also accept bulkier keto esters ('bulky-bulky' substrates). SyADH also provided preferentially syn-(2R,3S) isomers and RasADH showed in some cases good selectivity towards the formation of anti-(2S,3S) derivatives. With anti-Prelog ADHs such as LBADH from L. brevis or LKADH from L. kefir, syn-(2S,3R) alcohols were obtained with high conversions and diastereomeric excess in some cases, especially with LBADH. Furthermore, due to the thermodynamically favoured reduction of these substrates, it was possible to employ just a minimal excess of 2-propanol to obtain the final products with quantitative conversions. Copyright © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim. Fil: Cuetos, Aníbal. Universidad de Oviedo; España Fil: Rioz Martínez, Ana. Universidad de Oviedo; España Fil: Bisogno, Fabricio Román. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Oviedo; España Fil: Grischek, Barbara. University of Graz; Austria Fil: Lavandera, Iván. Universidad de Oviedo; España Fil: De Gonzalo, Gonzalo. Universidad de Oviedo; España Fil: Kroutil, Wolfgang. University of Graz; Austria Fil: Gotor, Vicente. Universidad de Oviedo; España

Crotonase superfamily enzymes catalyze a wide variety of reactions, including hydrolytic C-C bond cleavage in symmetrical β-diketones by 6-oxo camphor hydrolase (OCH) from Rhodococcus sp. The organic solvent tolerance and temperature stability of OCH and its structurally related ortholog Anabaena β-diketone hydrolase have been investigated. Both enzymes showed excellent tolerance toward organic solvents; for instance, even in the presence of 80% (v/v) THF or dioxane, OCH was still active. In most solvent mixtures, except methanol, the stereospecificity was conserved (>99% e.e. of product), hence neither the type of solvent nor its concentration appeared to have an effect on the stereoselectivity of the enzyme. Attempts to correlate the observed activities with log P, functional solvent group or denaturing capacity (DC) of the solvent were only successful in the case of DC for water miscible solvents. This study represents the first investigation of organic solvent stability for members of the crotonase superfamily.

A strategy for the biocatalytic racemization of primary α-chiral amines was developed by employing a pair of stereocomplementary PLP-dependent ω-transaminases. The interconversion of amine enantiomers proceeded through reversible transamination by a prochiral ketone intermediate, either catalyzed by a pair of stereocomplementary ω-transaminases or by a single enzyme possessing low stereoselectivity. To tune the system, the type and concentration of a nonchiral amino acceptor proved to be crucial. Finally, racemization could be achieved by the cross-transamination of two different amines without a requirement for an external amino acceptor. Several synthetically and industrially important amines could be enzymatically racemized under mild reaction conditions.