Biosynthesis of Chiral Amino Alcohols via an Engineered Amine Dehydrogenase in E. coli

Chiral amino alcohols are prevalent synthons in pharmaceuticals and synthetic bioactive compounds. The efficient synthesis of chiral amino alcohols using ammonia as the sole amino donor under mild conditions is highly desired and challenging in organic chemistry and biotechnology. Our previous work explored a panel of engineered amine dehydrogenases (AmDHs) derived from amino acid dehydrogenase (AADH), enabling the one-step synthesis of chiral amino alcohols via the asymmetric reductive amination of α-hydroxy ketones. Although the AmDH-directed asymmetric reduction is in a high stereoselective manner, the activity is yet fully excavated. Herein, an engineered AmDH derived from a leucine dehydrogenase from Sporosarcina psychrophila (SpAmDH) was recruited as the starting enzyme, and the combinatorial active-site saturation test/iterative saturation mutagenesis (CAST/ISM) strategy was applied to improve the activity. After three rounds of mutagenesis in an iterative fashion, the best variant wh84 was obtained and proved to be effective in the asymmetric reductive amination of 1-hydroxy-2-butanone with 4-fold improvements in kcat/Km and total turnover number (TTN) values compared to those of the starting enzyme, while maintaining high enantioselectivity (ee >99%) and thermostability (T5015 >53°C). In preparative-scale reaction, the conversion of 100 and 200 mM 1-hydroxy-2-butanone catalyzed by wh84 was up to 91–99%. Insights into the source of an enhanced activity were gained by the computational analysis. Our work expands the catalytic repertoire and toolbox of AmDHs.

Recent advances in asymmetric reduction of imines by recycled catalyst systems

Chiral amines are widely found in nature, many of which possess significant biological and synthetic values. The catalytic asymmetric syntheses of optically active amines have inspired enormous interests. Currently, the...

Highly Efficient Kinetic Resolution of Aryl-Alkenyl Alcohols by Ru-Catalyzed Hydrogen Transfer

No matter through asymmetric reduction of ketones or kinetic resolution of secondary alcohols, enantioselective synthesis of the corresponding secondary alcohols is challenging when the two groups attached to the prochiral or chiral centers are spatially or electronically similar. For examples, dialkyl (sp3 vs. sp3), diaryl (sp2 vs. sp2), and aryl-alkenyl (sp2 vs. sp2) alcohols are difficult to produce with high enantioselectivities. By exploiting our recently developed Ru-catalysts of minimal stereogenicity, we reported herein a highly efficient kinetic resolution of aryl-alkenyl alcohols through hydrogen transfer. This method enabled such versatile chiral building blocks for organic synthesis as allylic alcohols, to be readily accessed with excellent enantiomeric excesses at practically useful conversions.

Recent Advance in Organocatalyzed Asymmetric Reduction of Prochiral Ketones: An Update

Chiral alcohols are important synthetic intermediates or building blocks for the diverse synthesis of drugs, agrochemicals, and natural products. Asymmetric reduction of prochiral ketones has been the most popularly investigated method for accessing chiral alcohols. In this regard, the organocatalyzed asymmetric reduction as a complementary of transition-metal- and enzyme-catalyzed reactions have attracted tremendous interest in the past decades due to the nature of metal-free and easy operation, as well as, principly, the ease of recovery and reuse of catalysts. Following up a comprehensive overview on organocatalyzed asymmetric reduction of prochiral ketones in early 2018, this short review is intended to summarize the recent progress in this area from the beginning of the year 2018 to the end of Aug. 2021.

Stereoselective Synthesis of C19-C39 Fragment of Bastimolide A

This communication describes the synthesis of C19-C39 fragment of antimalarial natural product Bastimolide A via addition of functionalized C19-C26 alkyne fragment to the C27-C39 aldehyde fragment. Opening of terminal epoxide and Noyori asymmetric reduction were used as key steps in the synthesis.

Evaluation of 3,3′-Triazolyl Biisoquinoline N,N′-Dioxide Catalysts for Asymmetric Hydrosilylation of Hydrazones with Trichlorosilane

A new class of axial-chiral biisoquinoline N,N′-dioxides was evaluated as catalysts for the enantioselective hydrosilylation of acyl hydrazones with trichlorosilane. While these catalysts provided poor to moderate reactivity and enantioselectivity, this study represents the first example of the organocatalytic asymmetric reduction of acyl hydrazones. In addition, the structures and energies of two possible diastereomeric catalyst–trichlorosilane complexes (2a–HSiCl3) were analyzed using density functional theory calculations.

Chemoenzymatic access to enantiopure N-containing furfuryl alcohol from chitin-derived N-acetyl-D-glucosamine

Background Chiral furfuryl alcohols are important precursors for the synthesis of valuable functionalized pyranones such as the rare sugar L-rednose. However, the synthesis of enantiopure chiral biobased furfuryl alcohols remains scarce. In this work, we present a chemoenzymatic route toward enantiopure nitrogen-containing (R)- and (S)-3-acetamido-5-(1-hydroxylethyl)furan (3A5HEF) from chitin-derived N-acetyl-D-glucosamine (NAG). Findings 3-Acetamido-5-acetylfuran (3A5AF) was obtained from NAG via ionic liquid/boric acid-catalyzed dehydration, in an isolated yield of approximately 31%. Carbonyl reductases from Streptomyces coelicolor (ScCR) and Bacillus sp. ECU0013 (YueD) were found to be good catalysts for asymmetric reduction of 3A5AF. Enantiocomplementary synthesis of (R)- and (S)-3A5HEF was implemented with the yields of up to > 99% and the enantiomeric excess (ee) values of > 99%. Besides, biocatalytic synthesis of (R)-3A5HEF was demonstrated on a preparative scale, with an isolated yield of 65%. Conclusions A two-step process toward the chiral furfuryl alcohol was successfully developed by integrating chemical catalysis with enzyme catalysis, with excellent enantioselectivities. This work demonstrates the power of the combination of chemo- and biocatalysis for selective valorization of biobased furans. Graphic abstract

Engineering of Yeast Old Yellow Enzyme OYE3 Enables Its Capability Discriminating of (E)-Citral and (Z)-Citral

The importance of yeast old yellow enzymes is increasingly recognized for direct asymmetric reduction of (E/Z)-citral to (R)-citronellal. As one of the most performing old yellow enzymes, the enzyme OYE3 from Saccharomyces cerevisiae S288C exhibited complementary enantioselectivity for the reduction of (E)-citral and (Z)-citral, resulting in lower e.e. value of (R)-citronellal in the reduction of (E/Z)-citral. To develop a novel approach for the direct synthesis of enantio-pure (R)-citronellal from the reduction of (E/Z)-citral, the enzyme OYE3 was firstly modified by semi-rational design to improve its (R)-enantioselectivity. The OYE3 variants W116A and S296F showed strict (R)-enantioselectivity in the reduction of (E)-citral, and significantly reversed the (S)-enantioselectivity in the reduction of (Z)-citral. Next, the double substitution of OYE3 led to the unique variant S296F/W116G, which exhibited strict (R)-enantioselectivity in the reduction of (E)-citral and (E/Z)-citral, but was not active on (Z)-citral. Relying on its capability discriminating (E)-citral and (Z)-citral, a new cascade reaction catalyzed by the OYE3 variant S296F/W116G and glucose dehydrogenase was developed, providing the enantio-pure (R)-citronellal and the retained (Z)-citral after complete reduction of (E)-citral.