Amino acids kinetic, using enzymes

In a different approach, fluorescence-based DNA microarrays are utilized (88). In a model study, chiral amino acids were used. Mixtures of a racemic amino acid are first subjected to acylation at the amino function with formation of A-Boc protected derivatives. The samples are then covalently attached to amine-functionalized glass slides in a spatially arrayed manner (Fig. 10). In a second step, the uncoupled surface amino functions are acylated exhaustively. The third step involves complete deprotection to afford the free amino function of the amino acid. Finally, in a fourth step, two pseudo-Qn nX. om.Qx c fluorescent probes are attached to the free amino groups on the surface of the array. An appreciable degree of kinetic resolution in the process of amide coupling is a requirement for the success of the ee assay (Horeau s principle). In the present case, the ee values are accessible by measuring the ratio of the relevant fluorescent intensities. About 8000 ee determinations are possible per day, precision amounting to +10% of the actual value ((S(S). Although it was not explicitly demonstrated that this ee assay can be used to evaluate enzymes (e.g., proteases), this should in fact be possible. So far this approach has not been extended to other types of substrates. 

In addition, the amino acylase process can be also applied in the production of other proteinogenic and non-proteinogenic L-amino acids such as L-valine and l-phenylalanine. It is worth noting that racemases have recently been developed by several companies which allow (in combination with the L-aminoacylases) an extension of the existing process towards a dynamic kinetic resolution reaction [10]. It should be mentioned that the same concept can be also applied for the synthesis of D-amino acids when using a D-aminoacylase as an enzyme. 

Biocatalytic resolution plays a major role in the industrial scale synthesis of a wide variety of optically pure amino acids. Tanabe uses an L-spe-cific aminoacylase for the manufacture of several L-amino acids, immobilized on DEAE-Sephadex. Degussa on the other hand, uses the free acylase in a membrane bioreactor. The process is highly efficient in enzyme use, and racemisation of the D-isomer is straightforward, thus providing good economics, and virtually no waste (Scheme 7.4). The process can be further refined by the use of racemase enzymes, which makes dynamic kinetic resolution feasible. 

In nature, aminotransferases participate in a number of metabolic pathways [4[. They catalyze the transfer of an amino group originating from an amino acid donor to a 2-ketoacid acceptor by a simple mechanism. First, an amino group from the donor is transferred to the cofactor pyridoxal phosphate with formation of a 2-keto add and an enzyme-bound pyridoxamine phosphate intermediate. Second, this intermediate transfers the amino group to the 2-keto add acceptor. The readion is reversible, shows ping-pong kinetics, and has been used industrially in the production ofamino acids [69]. It can be driven in one direction by the appropriate choice of conditions (e.g. substrate concentration). Some of the aminotransferases accept simple amines instead of amino acids as amine donors, and highly enantioselective cases have been reported [70]. 

A large number of amino acid transporters have been detected by isolating mutations which selectively inactivate one permease without altering enzyme activities involving the corresponding amino acid. Competitive inhibition, kinetics and regulatory behaviour have also been used as criteria to distinguish one transport system from another (see section 4.2). 

An extensive mutagenesis protocol was used to probe the contribution of these observed changes in the STS fold towards cyclization specificity in CHS. Initially, an 18X mutant of alfalfa CHS was created to probe the mechanistic relevance of the structural differences observed in STS. Introduction of the pine STS primary sequence, consisting of 18 amino acid changes in areas 1-3, into alfalfa CHS results in an enzyme with similar kinetic efficiency to wild-type CHS. However, the mutant now produces resveratrol as the major product by using coumaroyl-CoA and malonyl-CoA in assays (Fig. 12.9B). Further deconvolution of the necessary... 

A practical enzymatic procedure using alcalase as biocatalyst has been developed for the synthesis of hydrophilic peptides.Alcalase is an industrial alkaline protease from Bacillus licheniformis produced by Novozymes that has been used as a detergent and for silk degumming. The major enzyme component of alcalase is the serine protease subtilisin Carlsberg, which is one of the fully characterized bacterial proteases. Alcalase has better stability and activity in polar organic solvents, such as alcohols, acetonitrile, dimethylformamide, etc., than other proteases. In addition, alcalase has wide specificity and both l- and o-amino acids that are accepted as nucleophiles at the p-1 subsite. Therefore, alcalase is a suitable biocatalyst to catalyse peptide bond formation in organic solvents under kinetic control without any racemization of the amino acids (Scheme 5.1). 

We have used a series of biocatalysts produced by site-directed mutations at the active site of L-phenylalanine dehydrogenase (PheDH) of Bacillus sphaericus, which expand the substrate specificity range beyond that of the wild-type enzyme, to catalyse oxidoreduc-tions involving various non-natural L-amino acids. These may be produced by enantiose-lective enzyme-catalysed reductive amination of the corresponding 2-oxoacid. Since the reaction is reversible, these biocatalysts may also be used to effect a kinetic resolution of a D,L racemic mixture. ... 

Enzymes may be used either directly for chiral synthesis of the desired enantiomer of the amino acid itself or of a derivative from which it can readily be prepared, or for kinetic resolution. Resolution of a racemate may remove the unwanted enantiomer, leaving the intended product untouched, or else the reaction may release the desired enantiomer from a racemic precursor. In either case the apparent disadvantage is that the process on its own can only yield up to 50% of the target compound. However, in a number of processes the enzyme-catalyzed kinetic resolution is combined with a second process that re-racemizes the unwanted enantiomer. This may be chemical or enzymatic, and in the latter case, the combination of two simultaneous enzymatic reactions can produce a smooth dynamic kinetic resolution leading to 100% yield. 

The use of D-AAO from the yeast Rhodotorula gracilis to deracemize naphthyl amino acids has been studied in some detail by the groups of Servi and Pollegioni, who compared the kinetic properties of the enzyme with racemic 1- and 2-naphthylalanine (1 and 2) and 1- and 2-naphthylglycine (3 and 4). 

Hsu et have cloned two enzymes from Deimcoccus radiodurans for overexpression in E. coli in order to carry out a dynamic kinetic resolution to obtain L-homophenylalanine, frequently required for pharmaceutical synthesis. The starting material is the racemic mixture of A acetylated homophenylalanine, and the two enzymes are an amino acid A -acylase, which specifically removes the acetyl group from the L-enantiomer, and a racemase, which interconverts the D- and L-forms of the A acyl amino acids. The resolution was carried out successfully using whole-cell biocatalysts, with the two enzymes either expressed in separate E. coli strains or coexpressed in the same cells. 

Site-directed mutagenesis is one of the most powerful methods of studying mechanisms of enzyme-catalyzed reactions. Since this technique makes it possible to replace a specific amino acid residue of an enzyme by an arbitrary one, it is particularly useful to specify the amino acid residue(s) which is responsible for the activity [20 - 22]. In the case of AMDase, one of four cysteine residues was presumed to be involved in the catalytic site by the titration experiments. To determine which Cys is located at the active site, preparation of four mutant enzymes, in each of which one of the cysteines is replaced another amino acid, and kinetic studies on them, are expected to be most informative. Which amino acid should be introduced in place of cysteine To decide on the best candidate. 

Another class of enzymes that can be used for the enantioselective synthesis of amines and amino acids is the aminotransferases or transaminases (TAs) [29]. As shown in Scheme 6.15, they can be employed in a kinetic resolution or an asymmetric synthesis mode. 

---