Hydrolysis amidases

APA may be either obtained directly from special Penicillium strains or by hydrolysis of penicillin Q with the aid of amidase enzymes. A major problem in the synthesis of different amides from 6-APA is the acid- and base-sensitivity of its -lactam ring which is usually very unstable outside of the pH range from 3 to 6. One synthesis of ampidllin applies the condensation of 6-APA with a mixed anhydride of N-protected phenylglydne. Catalytic hydrogenation removes the N-protecting group. Yields are low (2 30%) (without scheme). 

Hydrolysis of Nitriles. The chemical hydrolysis of nitriles to acids takes place only under strong acidic or basic conditions and may be accompanied by formation of unwanted and sometimes toxic by-products. Enzymatic hydrolysis of nitriles by nitrile hydratases, nittilases, and amidases is often advantageous since amides or acids can be produced under very mild conditions and in a stereo- or regioselective manner (114,115). 

Hydrolysis of esters and amides by enzymes that form acyl enzyme intermediates is similar in mechanism but different in rate-limiting steps. Whereas formation of the acyl enzyme intermediate is a rate-limiting step for amide hydrolysis, it is the deacylation step that determines the rate of ester hydrolysis. This difference allows elimination of the undesirable amidase activity that is responsible for secondary hydrolysis without affecting the rate of synthesis. Addition of an appropriate cosolvent such as acetonitrile, DMF, or dioxane can selectively eliminate undesirable amidase activity (128). 

Chirazymes. These are commercially available enzymes e.g. lipases, esterases, that can be used for the preparation of a variety of optically active carboxylic acids, alcohols and amines. They can cause regio and stereospecific hydrolysis and do not require cofactors. Some can be used also for esterification or transesterification in neat organic solvents. The proteases, amidases and oxidases are obtained from bacteria or fungi, whereas esterases are from pig liver and thermophilic bacteria. For preparative work the enzymes are covalently bound to a carrier and do not therefore contaminate the reaction products. Chirazymes are available form Roche Molecular Biochemicals and are used without further purification. 

Hydantoinases belong to the E.C.3.5.2 group of cyclic amidases, which catalyze the hydrolysis of hydantoins [4,54]. As synthetic hydantoins are readily accessible by a variety of chemical syntheses, including Strecker reactions, enantioselective hydantoinase-catalyzed hydrolysis offers an attractive and general route to chiral amino acid derivatives. Moreover, hydantoins are easily racemized chemically or enzymatically by appropriate racemases, so that dynamic kinetic resolution with potential 100% conversion and complete enantioselectivity is theoretically possible. Indeed, a number of such cases using WT hydantoinases have been reported [54]. However, if asymmetric induction is poor or ifinversion ofenantioselectivity is desired, directed evolution can come to the rescue. Such a case has been reported, specifically in the production of i-methionine in a whole-cell system ( . coli) (Figure 2.13) [55]. 

The biocatalytic differentiation of enantiotopic nitrile groups in prochiral or meso substrates has been studied by several research groups. For instance, the nitrilase-catalyzed desymmetrization of 3-hydroxyglutaronitrile [92,93] followed by an esterification provided ethyl-(Jl)-4-cyano-3-hydroxybutyrate, a useful intermediate in the synthesis of cholesterol-lowering dmg statins (Figure 6.32) [94,95]. The hydrolysis of prochiral a,a-disubstituted malononitriles by a Rhodococcus strain expressing nitrile hydratase/amidase activity resulted in the formation of (R)-a,a-disubstituted malo-namic acids (Figure 6.33) [96]. 

Penicillin G acylase (PGA, EC 3.5.1.11, penicillin G amidase) catalyzes the hydrolysis of the phenylacetyl side chain of penicillin to give 6-aminopenicillanic acid. PGA accepts only phenylacetyl and structurally similar groups (phenoxyacetyl, 4-pyridylacetyl) in the acyl moiety of the substrates, whereas a wide range of structures are tolerated in the amine part [100]. A representative selection of amide substrates, which have been hydrolyzed in a highly selective fashion, is depicted in Figure 6.36. 

Racemic a-amino amides and a-hydroxy amides have been hydrolyzed enantio-selectively by amidases. Both L-selective and o-selective amidases are known. For example, a purified L-selective amidase from Ochrobactrum anthropi combines a very broad substrate specificity with a high enantioselectivity on a-hydrogen and a,a-disubstituted a-amino acid amides, a-hydroxyacid amides, and a-N-hydroxya-mino acid amides [102]. A racemase (a-amino-e-caprolactam racemase, EC 5.1.1.15) converts the o-aminopeptidase-catalyzed hydrolysis of a-amino acid amides into a DKR (Figure 6.38) [103]. 

The hydrolysis with a (R)-specific amidase from Klebsiella oxytoca resolved 2-hydroxy- and 2-amino-3,3,3-trifluoro-2-methylpropionamide, giving the (R)-acid and the remaining (S)-amide (Figure 6.39) [104,105]. 

P-Lactamases (EC 3.5.2.6) produced by bacteria cleave the P-lactam ring and are responsible for their resistance to P-lactam antibiotics. Lactamases are useful catalysts for the enantioselective hydrolysis of P-lactams and other cyclic amides. P-lactams shown in Figure 6.40 were resolved by whole-cell systems containing an amidase [106]. 

The amidase from Rhodococcus erythopolis strain MP50 was nsed to selectively convert racemic 2-phenylpropionamide into 5 -2-phenylpropiohydroxamate. This was converted into the isocyanate by Lossen rearrangement and then by hydrolysis to S-( )-phenylethyl-amine (Hirrlinger and Stolz 1997). 

There are two pathways for the degradation of nitriles (a) direct formation of carboxylic acids by the activity of a nitrilase, for example, in Bacillus sp. strain OxB-1 and P. syringae B728a (b) hydration to amides followed by hydrolysis, for example, in P. chlororaphis (Oinuma et al. 2003). The monomer acrylonitrile occurs in wastewater from the production of polyacrylonitrile (PAN), and is hydrolyzed by bacteria to acrylate by the combined activity of a nitrilase (hydratase) and an amidase. Acrylate is then degraded by hydration to either lactate or P-hydroxypropionate. The nitrilase or amidase is also capable of hydrolyzing the nitrile group in a number of other nitriles (Robertson et al. 2004) including PAN (Tauber et al. 2000). 

The assessment of clearance is complicated by the numerous mechanisms by which compounds may be cleared from the body. These mechanisms include oxidative metabolism, most commonly by CYP enzymes, but also in some cases by other enzymes including but not limited to monoamine oxidases (MAO), flavin-containing monooxygenases (FMO), and aldehyde oxidase [45, 46], Non-oxidative metabolism such as conjugation or hydrolysis may be effected by enzymes such as glucuronyl transferases (UGT), glutathione transferases (GST), amidases, esterases, or ketone reductases, as well as other enzymes [47, 48], In addition to metabolic pathways, parent compound may be excreted directly via passive or active transport processes, most commonly into the urine or bile. 

Reisinger, C., Osprian, I., Glieder, A. et al. (2004) Enzymatic hydrolysis of cyanohydrins with recombinant nitrile hydratase and amidase from Rhodococcus erythropolis. Biotechnology Letters, 26, 1675-1680. 

Enzyme activity (urease, amidase, dehydrogenase, pl-glucosidase, phosphatase, arylsulfatase, fluorescein diacetate hydrolysis) Laboratory incubation Indicates potential microbial activity and nutrient cycling reactions determined in nonstandard laboratory with specialized equipment highly spatially and temporally variable dependent upon organic inputs Dick et al. (1996) Parham et aL (2002)... 

Carboxylesterases and amidases catalyze hydrolysis of carboxy esters and carboxy amides to the corresponding carboxylic acids and alcohols or amines. In general those enzymes capable of catalyzing hydrolysis of carboxy esters are also amidases, and vice versa (110). The role of these enzymes in metabolsim of drugs and insecticides has been reviewed (111, 112). In addition to the interest in mammalian metabolism of drugs and environmental chemicals, microbial esterases have been used for enantioselective hydrolyses (113, 114). 

Fig. 9 Three haptens, [15]—[17], containing a 1,2-aminoalcohol functionality were investigated as alternatives for esterase and amidase induction. Of antibodies raised against hapten [15], 50% were shown to catalyse the hydrolysis of ester [18], thereby establishing the necessity for a compact haptenic structure. Hapten [19] along with [16] was employed in a heterologous immunization programme to elicit both a general and acid/base function in the antibody binding site.

Medicinal chemists are interested not only in hydrolysis of amides by mammalian amidases as exemplified above, but also in bacterial amidases as useful biosynthetic tools. Of particular interest is the enantioselective hydrolysis of chiral amides by various bacterial amidases. Some of these... 

Like with primary amides (see Sect. 4.2.1), bacterial amidases can be useful for the transformation of secondary amides in drug synthesis. Bacterial amidases have been extensively studied in the presence of penicillins and other [i-lactam antibiotics, for which two hydrolysis reactions are possible. One of these is carried out by enzymes known as penicillinases or /3-lactamases that open the /3-lactam ring this aspect will be discussed in Chapt. 5. The second type of hydrolysis involves cleavage of the side-chain amide bond (4.47 to 4.48) and is carried out by an enzyme called penicillinacylase (penicillin amidohydrolase, EC 3.5.1.11). Both types of hydrolysis inactivate the antibiotic [29-31],... 

A simple example in this class with which to begin is A,A-diethyl-m-to-luamide 0V,/V-dicthyl-3-mcthylbenzamidc, DEET, 4.82), an extensively used topical insect repellant. The hydrolysis product 3-methylbenzoic acid was detected in the urine of rats dosed intraperitoneally or topically with DEET. However, amide hydrolysis represented only a minor pathway, the major metabolites resulting from methyl oxidation and A-dealkylation [52], Treatment of rats with /V,/V-dicthylbcnzamidc (4.83), a contaminant in DEET, produced the same urinary metabolites as its secondary analogue, A-ethylbenzamide (see Sect. 4.3.1.2). This observation can be explained by invoking a metabolic pathway that involves initial oxidative mono-A-deethylation followed by enzymatic hydrolysis of the secondary amide to form ethylamine and benzoic acid [47], Since diethylamide was not detected in these experiments, it appears that A,A-diethylbenzamide cannot be hydrolyzed by amidases, perhaps due to the increased steric bulk of the tertiary amido group. 

The structural elements that determine amide cleavage in compounds of type 4.139 were investigated in mouse liver homogenates [84] and can be summarized as follows Increasing the size of the /V-substitucnt (the R"" and R "" groups) increased the rate of hydrolysis, whereas it was decreased by the presence of substituents surrounding the amide bond (R to R "). The R" and R " groups were critical, and reactivity was considerably reduced for R"=Me and R "=H. Compounds substituted in both positions (R" = R " = Me) were resistant to amidase. 

Hydrazides are formed by the acylation of hydrazines, and have a C-N bond of rather low chemical stability toward hydrolysis. It is, therefore, not surprising that the cleavage of this bond represents a major metabolic pathway for most hydrazides. The reaction is catalyzed by amidases since it can be inhibited by O-ethyl 0-(4-nitrophenyl) phenyl phosphothionate or bis(4-nitrophenyl) phosphate, which are classical inhibitors of this enzyme. 

The antihypertensive agent tripamide (4.267), when incubated with rat liver microsomes or partially purified microsomal arylamidase, was extensively hydrolyzed to 4-chloro-3-sulfamoylbenzoic acid (4.268) [171]. This metabolite seems to be produced by direct hydrolysis, since the other metabolites formed by oxidation of the cycloalkyl moiety remained unchanged when incubated with rat liver microsomes. The mechanism of hydrolysis of tripamide has not yet been fully elucidated. The inhibition of the reaction by O-ethyl 0-(4-nitro-phenyl) phenyl phosphothionate indicates that amidases may be involved. 

Pathway a in Fig. 9.15 is one of amide hydrolysis mediated by a carboxy-amidase. The metabolite thus produced is methamidophos, the toxic species formed predominantly in insects and far less in mammals. Pathways b and c lead to an O-demethyl and a demethylthio metabolite, respectively. The re-... 

Desymmetrization is not restricted to a single class of enzyme. For example, Madrell et reported the gram-scale preparation of a key intermediate of the lovastatin lactone through the desymmetrization of 3-(benzyloxy)glutaronitrile using whole cells from Brevibacterium R312. The transformation occurs via a dual nitrile hydratase/amidase-catalysed hydrolysis to afford acid in 65 % yield and 88 % ee (Scheme 1.49). 

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