Enzyme deracemization processes

Figure 5.2 Cyclic deracemization process involving sequential enzyme-catalyzed oxidation and nonenzymatic reduction.

An elegant four-enzyme cascade process was described by Nakajima et al. [28] for the deracemization of an a-amino acid (Scheme 6.13). It involved amine oxidase-catalyzed, (i )-selective oxidation of the amino acid to afford the ammonium salt of the a-keto acid and the unreacted (S)-enantiomer of the substrate. The keto acid then undergoes reductive amination, catalyzed by leucine dehydrogenase, to afford the (S)-amino acid. NADH cofactor regeneration is achieved with formate/FDH. The overall process affords the (S)-enantiomer in 95% yield and 99% e.e. from racemic starting material, formate and molecular oxygen, and the help of three enzymes in concert. A fourth enzyme, catalase, is added to decompose the hydrogen peroxide formed in the first step which otherwise would have a detrimental effect on the enzymes. 

During the past few years great efforts have been made to overcome the 50% threshold of enzyme-catalyzed KRs. Among the methods developed, deracemization processes have attracted considerable attention. Deracemizations are processes during which a racemate is converted into a non-racemic product in 100% theoretical yield without intermediate separation of materials [5]. This chapter aims to provide a summary of chemoenzymatic dynamic kinetic resolutions (DKRs) and chemoenzymatic cyclic deracemizations. 

It should be mentioned that the great majority of dynamic kinetic resolutions reported so far are carried out in organic solvents, whereas all cyclic deracemizations are conducted in aqueous media. Therefore, formally, this latter methodology would not fit the scope of this book, which is focused on the synthetic uses of enzymes in non-aqueous media. However, to fully present and discuss the applications and potentials of chemoenzymatic deracemization processes for the synthesis of enantiopure compounds, chemoenzymatic cyclic de-racemizations will also be briefly treated in this chapter, as well as a small number of other examples of enzymatic DKR performed in water. 

Unhke a kinetic resolution process, where in principle both enantiomers of the same compound can be obtained, a deracemization process gives access to one single enantiomer. The possibihty of securing the enantiomer of opposite configuration depends on the availability of the enzymes involved frequently enzymes with complementary stereopreferences are not available. 

Microbial stereoinversion consists of a deracemization process in which a single whole cell system is applied for the two-step inversion of the configuration of one enantiomer, usually a compound containing a secondary alcohol group. Examples of a two-enzyme system is known for deracemization of mandelates where a single microorganism is used [18]. 

Hydantoinase-Carbamoylase System for t-Amino Acid Synthesis Despite a number of reports of strains with L-selechve hydantoin-hydrolyzing enzymes [38] the commercial application of the hydantoinase process is stiU restricted to the production of D-amino acids. Processes for the production of L-amino acids are Umited by low space-time yields and high biocatalyst costs. Recently, a new generation of an L-hydantoinase process was developed based on a tailor-made recombinant whole cell biocatalyst. Further reduction of biocatalyst cost by use of recombinant Escherichia coli cells overexpressing hydantoinase, carbamoylase, and hydantoin racemase from Arthrohacter sp. DSM 9771 were achieved. To improve the hydan-toin-converting pathway, the level of expression of the different genes was balanced on the basis of their specific activities. The system has been appUed to the preparation of L-methionine the space-time yield is however still Umited [39]. Improvements in the deracemization process from rac-5-substituted hydantoins to L-amino acids still requires a more selective L-hydantoinase. 

S)-Amino-3-[3- 6-(2-methylphenyl) pyridyl]-propionic add 82a was prepared by an enzymatic deracemization process using a combination of two enzymes (P)-amino acid oxidase from Trigonopsis variabilis cloned and expressed in E. coli and an (S)-aminotransferase from Sporosarcina ureae, also cloned and expressed in E. coli [147]. Racemic amino acid 82 was used as a substrate and (S)-aspartate was used as amino donor. An (S)-aminotransferase was also purified from a soil organism identified as Burkholderia sp. and cloned and expressed in E. coli and used in this process [147]. This process was scaled up to 70 L scale. 

AAOs have also been coupled with other enzymes, like amino transferases, in order to achieve an alternate deracemization process. For example, a racemic a-AA with a bulky heterobiaryl residue was converted to the (S)-enantiomer by combination of an oxidative kinetic resolution performed by the d-AAO from Trigonopsis variabilis and an (o-TA from Burkholderia sp. (Scheme 2.31). A conversion of 85% after 22 h led to 72% isolated product yield widi an excellent stereoselectivity (>99.5% ee). 

Assuming that the enzymatic reaction is highly enantioselective, then even after only four cycles the enantiomeric excess will have reached 93.4% whereas after seven catalytic cycles the enantiomeric excess is >99% (Figure 5.3). This type of deracemization is really a stereoinversion process in that the reactive enantiomer undergoes stereoinversion during the process. One of the challenges of developing this type of process is to find conditions under which the enzyme catalyst and chemical reactant can coexist, particularly in the case of redox chemistry in which the coexistence of an oxidant and reductant in the same reaction vessel is difficult to achieve. For this... 

Asymmetric synthesis can refer to any process which accesses homochiral products. We will focus on asymmetric synthesis from racemic or prochiral starting materials in the presence of an enantioselective catalyst (enzyme). There are four general methodologies commonly applied kinetic resolution, dynamic kinetic resolution, deracemization and... 

Chemoenzymatic processes involving oxidizing enzymes have been reported particularly for specific chemical syntheses. For example, industrially important amino acids can be deracemized by exploiting the enantioselectivity of amino acid oxidases a commercial process has recently been developed in which efficient... 

Oxidoreductases are, after lipases, the second most-used kinds of biocatalysts in organic synthesis. Two main processes have been reported using this type of enzymes-bioreduction of carbonyl groups [39] and biohydroxylation of non-activated substrates [40]. However, in recent few years other processes such as deracemization of amines or alcohols [41] and enzymatic Baeyer-Villiger reactions of ketones and aldehydes [42] are being used with great utility in asymmetric synthesis. 

The first example of chemoenzymatic DKR of allylic alcohol derivatives was reported by Williams et al. [37]. Cyclic allylic acetates were deracemized by combining a lipase-catalyzed hydrolysis with a racemization via transposition of the acetate group, catalyzed by a Pd(II) complex. Despite a limitation of the process, i.e. long reaction times (19 days), this work was a significant step forward in the combination of enzymes and metals in one pot Some years later, Kim et al. considerably improved the DKR of allylic acetates using a Pd(0) complex for the racemization, which occurs through Tt-allyl(palladium) intermediates. The transesterification is catalyzed by a lipase (Candida antarctica lipase B, CALB) using isopropanol as acyl acceptor (Scheme 5.19) [38]. 

Deracemization by DKR is in principle a kinetic resolution process in which the non-transformed enantiomer is racemized in situ. The conditions are that a chiral catalyst promotes the transformation of one enantiomer (Rj) into the product (Rp) while the other enantiomer is racemized at a comparable rate and the racemic mixture (R -i- S ) is restored. The product (Rp) is not racemized under the same conditions. While a simple kinetic resolution yields a maximum of 50% of the product, with this technique a 100% conversion can be reached. Although the majority of chiral molecules of industrial interest are stiU prepared by kinetic resolution, the continuous development of industrial enzymes and racemizing processes fosters new chemo- or biocatalytic systems for DKR to appear. A great impulse for deracemization methods based on the one-pot/two-steps resolution racemization process was brought about by BackvaU et al. over a 10-year period... 

Deracemization of mandelic add with the combined action of two enzymes has been reported. rac-MandeUc acid is acylated by a Pseudomonas sp. lipase in diisopropyl ether. After solvent removal the mfacture of mandeUc acid enriched in the R-form and the 0-acetyl derivative of the S-configuration are subjected to the mandelate racemase-catalyzed racemization in aqueous buffer. In these conditions only the non-acetylated hydroxy acid is racemized. In order to obtain (S)-0-acetylmandelic acid in an 80% isolated yield and a >98% e.e. the process must be repeated four times [9]. 

For several reasons a-amino acids are ideal substrates for deracemization methods. They racemize easily by base catalysis under a number of conditions and they are racemized in Nature by the intervention of specific amino acid racemases. They are also recognized as substrates by oxidative enzymes to give the corresponding oxo-acids, in turn substrates for amino transferases and amino acid dehydrogenases. Several industrial preparations of L- and D-amino acids are based on processes of deracemization [26] or of separate two-steps resolution-racemization [27]. 

The deracemization of lactate in principle is also interesting. In this process, pyruvate is reduced at the cathode to racemic lactate which is reoxidized to pyruvate by the cheap l-lactate dehydrogenase combined with the anodic regeneration of the oxidized cofactor NAD". As D-lactate is not accepted by the enzyme, it is accumulated during the process (Fig. 16) [103]. 

Deracemization via Biocatalytic Stereoinversion. Racemic secondary alcohols may be converted into a single enantiomer via stereoinversion which proceeds through a two-step redox sequence (Scheme 2.130) [38, 941, 942] In a first step, one enantiomer from the racemic mixture is selectively oxidized to the corresponding ketone while the other enantiomer remains unaffected. Then, the ketone is reduced in a second subsequent step by another redox-enzyme displaying opposite stereochemical preference. Overall, this process constitutes a deracemization technique, which leads to the formation of a single enantiomer in 100% theoretical yield... 

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