Biocatalytic Approaches for the Large-Scale Production of Asymmetric Synthons

Biocatalytic Approaches for the Large-Scale Production of Asymmetric Synthons 

Nicholas M. Shaw, Karen T. Robins, and Andreas Kiener 

Lonza is a major custom manufacturer of intermediates for the life science industries, and uses biocatalysis in many of its processes. Some of the products for which a biotransformation is used are achiral, however, an important characteristic of enzymes is their chirality, and this characteristic is used by Lonza to produce a number of chiral synthons. Biotransformations for the synthesis of asymmetric compounds can be divided into two types of reactions those where an achiral precursor is converted into a chiral product (true asymmetric synthesis) and those involving the resolution of a racemic mixture. Both types of reaction are used at Lonza, and several examples of each type of reaction are described for large-scale syntheses of chiral molecules that use a biotransformation in one or more of the steps. 

The following examples illustrate Lonza s activities in large-scale biocatalysis for asymmetric synthesis. There are more examples of resolutions than true asymmetric syntheses, and this reflects the general current situation in the field of large-scale biotransformations. However, considerable research work is underway, both in universities and industry, to broaden the types of biocatalytic reactions that can be applied on a commercial scale. 

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Biocatalytic approaches for the large-scale production of asymmetric synthons 7-Aminocephalosporanic acid — chemical vs. enzymatic production process... 

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