Esters enzymic reduction

Guanosine 5 -(a-D-rhamnopyranosyl pyrophosphate) (23) was shown to be a product of enzymic reduction of the mannosyl ester (17) in the presence of a plant extract93 or an enzyme preparation from an unidentified strain of Gram-negative bacteria.94,95 In the latter example, the 6-deoxy-D-talosyl ester, presumably 24, is also produced. 

The enzyme recLBADH is the first catalyst that has been found to allow the highly regio- and enantioselective synthesis of 5-hydroxy-P-keto esters by reduction of the respective diketo esters. This enzymatic reaction is of enormous preparative value. The substrates are readily available by acylation of P-keto ester bisenolates and the reaction only requires a simple batch technique which is easy to scale up. Reduction of the chlorinated compound la has been performed routinely on a 75 g scale in our laboratory (8 L fed batch), yielding (S)-2a in an isolated yield of 84% [10]. 

Proanthocyanidins and Procyanidins - In a classical study Bate-Smith ( ) used the patterns of distribution of the three principal classes of phenolic metabolites, which are found in the leaves of plants, as a basis for classification. The biosynthesis of these phenols - (i) proanthocyanidins (ii) glycosylated flavonols and (iii) hydroxycinnamoyl esters - is believed to be associated with the development in plants of the capacity to synthesise the structural polymer lignin by the diversion from protein synthesis of the amino-acids L-phenylalanine and L-tyro-sine. Vascular plants thus employ one or more of the p-hydroxy-cinnarayl alcohols (2,3, and 4), which are derived by enzymic reduction (NADH) of the coenzyme A esters of the corresponding hydroxycinnamic acids, as precursors to lignin. The same coenzyme A esters also form the points of biosynthetic departure for the three groups of phenolic metabolites (i, ii, iii), Figure 1. 

D. B. Brzozowski, R. L. Hanson, and L. J. Szarka, Enantioselective microbial reduction of 3,5-dioxo-6-(benzyloxy) hexanoic add, ethyl ester, Enzyme Microb. Technol. 1993, 15, 1014-1021. 

MISCELLANEOUS REACTIONS OF DIHYDROPYRIDINES Additional tests for net hydride transfers initiated by single-electron transfer include the use of substrates in which such pathways would necessarily involve readily ring-opened cyclopropylmethyl or readily cyclized 5-hexenyl radicals. Products from these radical reactions are not formed in NAD+/ NADH dependent enzymic reductions or oxidations (Maclnnes et al., 1982, 1983 Laurie et al., 1986 Chung and Park, 1982). Such tests have also been applied in non-enzymic reductions. Thus cyclopropane rings in cyclopropyl 2-pyridyl ketones, or imines of formylcyclopropane (van Niel and Pandit, 1983, 1985 Meijer et al., 1984) survive Mg+2 catalysed reduction by BNAH or Hantzsch esters but are opened by treatment with tributylin hydride. 

L-Phenylalanine,which is derived via the shikimic acid pathway,is an important precursor for aromatic aroma components. This amino acid can be transformed into phe-nylpyruvate by transamination and by subsequent decarboxylation to 2-phenylacetyl-CoA in an analogous reaction as discussed for leucine and valine. 2-Phenylacetyl-CoA is converted into esters of a variety of alcohols or reduced to 2-phenylethanol and transformed into 2-phenyl-ethyl esters. The end products of phenylalanine catabolism are fumaric acid and acetoacetate which are further metabolized by the TCA-cycle. Phenylalanine ammonia lyase converts the amino acid into cinnamic acid, the key intermediate of phenylpropanoid metabolism. By a series of enzymes (cinnamate-4-hydroxylase, p-coumarate 3-hydroxylase, catechol O-methyltransferase and ferulate 5-hydroxylase) cinnamic acid is transformed into p-couma-ric-, caffeic-, ferulic-, 5-hydroxyferulic- and sinapic acids,which act as precursors for flavor components and are important intermediates in the biosynthesis of fla-vonoides, lignins, etc. Reduction of cinnamic acids to aldehydes and alcohols by cinnamoyl-CoA NADPH-oxido-reductase and cinnamoyl-alcohol-dehydrogenase form important flavor compounds such as cinnamic aldehyde, cin-namyl alcohol and esters. Further reduction of cinnamyl alcohols lead to propenyl- and allylphenols such as... 

Although lanosterol may appear similar to cholesterol in structure, another 20 steps are required to convert lanosterol to cholesterol (Figure 25.35). The enzymes responsible for this are all associated with the endoplasmic reticulum. The primary pathway involves 7-dehydroeholesterol as the penultimate intermediate. An alternative pathway, also composed of many steps, produces the intermediate desmosterol. Reduction of the double bond at C-24 yields cholesterol. Cholesterol esters—a principal form of circulating cholesterol—are synthesized by acyl-CoA cholesterol acyltransferases (ACAT) on the cytoplasmic face of the endoplasmic reticulum. 

The complex thioamide lolrestat (8) is an inhibitor of aldose reductase. This enzyme catalyzes the reduction of glucose to sorbitol. The enzyme is not very active, but in diabetic individuals where blood glucose levels can. spike to quite high levels in tissues where insulin is not required for glucose uptake (nerve, kidney, retina and lens) sorbitol is formed by the action of aldose reductase and contributes to diabetic complications very prominent among which are eye problems (diabetic retinopathy). Tolrestat is intended for oral administration to prevent this. One of its syntheses proceeds by conversion of 6-methoxy-5-(trifluoroniethyl)naphthalene-l-carboxyl-ic acid (6) to its acid chloride followed by carboxamide formation (7) with methyl N-methyl sarcosinate. Reaction of amide 7 with phosphorous pentasulfide produces the methyl ester thioamide which, on treatment with KOH, hydrolyzes to tolrestat (8) 2[. 

Enzymes are classified into six categories depending on the kind of reaction they catalyze, as shown in Table 26.2. Oxidoreductases catalyze oxidations and reductions hansferases catalyze the transfer of a group from one substrate to another hydrolases catalyze hydrolysis reactions of esters, amides, and related substrates lyases catalyze the elimination or addition of a small molecule such as H2O from or to a substrate isomerases catalyze isomerizalions and ligases catalyze the bonding together of two molecules, often coupled with the hydrolysis... 

A representative set of a- and -keto esters was also tested as substrates (total 11) for each purified fusion protein (Figure 8.13b,c) [9bj. The stereoselectivities of -keto ester reductions depended both on the identity of the enzyme and the substrate stmcture, and some reductases yielded both l- and o-alcohols with high stereoselectivities. While a-keto esters were generally reduced with lower enantioselec-tivities, it was possible to identify pairs of yeast reductases that delivered both alcohol antipodes in optically pure form. These results demonstrate the power of genomic fusion protein libraries to identify appropriate biocatalysts rapidly and expedite process development. 

Baker s yeast has been widely used for the reduction of ketones. The substrate specificity and enantioselectivity of the carbonyl reductase from baker s yeast, which is known to catalyze the reduction of P-keto ester to L-hydroxyester (L2-enzyme) [15], was investigated, and the enzyme was found to reduce chloro-, acetoxy ketones with high enantioselectivity (Figure 8.32) [24aj. 

The enantiomeric reduction of 2-nitro-l-phenylprop-l-ene has been studied in a range of Gram-positive organisms including strains of Rhodococcus rhodochrous (Sakai et al. 1985). The enantiomeric purity of the product depended on the strain used, the length of cultivation, and the maintenance of a low pH that is consistent with the later results of Meah and Massey (2000). It has been shown that an NADPH-linked reduction of a,p-unsaturated nitro compounds may also be accomplished by old yellow enzyme via the flcf-nitro form (Meah and Massey 2000). This is formally analogous to the reduction and dismutation of cyclic enones by the same enzyme (Vaz et al. 1995), and the reductive fission of nitrate esters by an enzyme homologous to the old yellow enzyme from Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Snape et al. 1997). 

The ability of enzymes to achieve the selective esterification of one enantiomer of an alcohol over the other has been exploited by coupling this process with the in situ metal-catalysed racemisation of the unreactive enantiomer. Marr and co-workers have used the rhodium and iridium NHC complexes 44 and 45 to racemise the unreacted enantiomer of substrate 7 [17]. In combination with a lipase enzyme (Novozyme 435), excellent enantioselectivities were obtained in the acetylation of alcohol 7 to give the ester product 43 (Scheme 11.11). A related dynamic kinetic resolution has been reported by Corberdn and Peris [18]. hi their chemistry, the aldehyde 46 is readily racemised and the iridium NHC catalyst 35 catalyses the reversible reduction of aldehyde 46 to give an alcohol which is acylated by an enzyme to give the ester 47 in reasonable enantiomeric excess. 

In some cases enzymes can increase the rate of reaction by up to lO times. Carnell and Roberts (1997) have briefly discussed the scope of biotransformations that are used to make pharmaceuticals like penicillins, cephalosporines, erythromycin, lovastatin, cyclosporin, etc., and for food additives like citric acid, L-glutamate, and L-lysine. A very successful transformation by Zeneca has been that of benzene reduction, with Pseudomonase Putida, to dihydrocatechol and catechol the dihydro derivative is used to produce (+/-) pinitol. Fluorobenzene has been converted to fluorodihydrocatechol, an intermediate for pharmaceuticals. The highly stereo selective Bayer-Villeger reaction has been carried out with genetically engineered S-cerevisvae. Hydrolases have allowed enantioselective, and in some cases regioselective, hydrolysis of racemic esters. 

---