Ketoreductase synthesis

Chapters 5-8 are directed to emerging enzymes, which include oxynitrilases, aldolases, ketoreductases, oxidases, nitrile hydratases, and nitrilases, and their recent applications especially in synthesis of chiral drugs and intermediates. 

In a study aim to develop biocatalytic process for the synthesis of Kaneka alcohol, apotential intermediate for the synthesis of HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors, cell suspensions of Acine-tobacter sp. SC 13 874 was found to reduce diketo ethyl ester to give the desired syn-(AR,5S)-dihydroxy ester with an ee of 99% and a de of 63% (Figure 7.4). When the tert-butyl ester was used as the starting material, a mixture of mono- and di-hydroxy esters was obtained with the dihydroxy ester showing an ee of 87% and de of 51% for the desired, sy -(3/t,5,Sr)-dihydroxy ester [16]. Three different ketoreductases were purified from this strain. Reductase I only catalyzes the reduction of diketo ester to its monohydroxy products, whereas reductase II catalyzes the formation of dihydroxy products from monohydroxy substrates. A third reductase (III) catalyzes the reduction of diketo ester to, vv -(3/t,55)-dihydroxy ester. 

Enzyme-catalysed Synthesis of a-Alkyl-j8-hydroxy Ketones and Esters by Isolated Ketoreductases... 

Kalaitzakis, D., Rozzell, J.D., Kambourakis, S. and Smonou, I., Synthesis of valuable chiral intermediates by isolated ketoreductases application in the s3mthesis of -alkyl—hydroxy ketones and 1,3-diols. Adv. Synth. Catal, 2006, 348, 1958-1969. 

The latter part of the book is dedicated to redox biotransformation application, with Chapter 9 disclosing several methods for the synthesis of chiral secondary alcohols using a range of commercially available ketoreductases (alcohol dehydrogenases) which are now being applied regularly on a large scale. 

Synthesis of the aggregation pheromone of the rice weevil Sitophilus oryzae and the maize weevil S. zeamais, (+)-sitophilure, was achieved in two steps using NADPH-dependent ketoreductases. ... 

There are basically two approaches to the synthesis of enantiomerically pure alcohols (i) kinetic resolution of the racemic alcohol using a hydrolase (lipase, esterase or protease) or (ii) reduction mediated by a ketoreductase (KRED). Both of these processes can be performed as a cascade process. The first approach can be performed as a dynamic kinetic resolution (DKR) by conducting an enzymatic transesterification in the presence of a redox metal [e.g. a Ru(ll) complex] to catalyze in situ racemization of the unreacted alcohol isomer [11] (Scheme 6.1). We shall not discuss this type of process in any detail here since it forms the subject of Chapter 1. 

The chemoenzymatic synthesis of chiral alcohols is a field of major interest within biocatalytic asymmetric conversions. A convenient access to secondary highly enan-tiomerically enriched alcohols is the usage of alcohol dehydrogenases (ADHs) (ketoreductases) for the stereoselective reduction of prochiral ketones. Here, as in many other cases in asymmetric catalysis, enzymes are not always only an alternative to chemical possibilities, but are rather complementary. Albeit biocatalysts might sometimes seem to be more environmentally friendly, asymmetric ketone reduction... 

Fig. 17 Ketoreductase-catalyzed chemoenzymatic synthesis of statin side chains...

Modular PKS enzymes are responsible for the synthesis of a wide diversity of structures and seem to have more relaxed specificities in several of the enzymatic steps. Their enormous appeal for combinatorial purposes, though, derives from the presence of multiple modules that can be manipulated independently, allowing the production of rings of different sizes and with potential stereochemical variation at each PK carbon. The higher complexity of these pathways has somewhat hindered their exploitation, but recently, several have been fully characterized. Among them, by far the most studied modular multienzyme complex is 6-deoxyerythronolide B synthase (DEBS 240,266,267), which produces the 14-member macrolide 6-deoxyerythronolide B (10.70, Fig. 10.45). DEBS contains three large subunits each of which contains two PKS enzyme modules. Each module contains the minimal PKS enzyme vide supra) and either none (M3), one (ketoreductase KR Ml, M2, MS, and M6), or three (dehydratase DH-enoyl reductase ER-ketoreductase KR, M4) catalytic activities that produce a keto (M3), an hydroxy (Ml, M2, MS and M6), or an unsubstituted methylene (M4) on the last monomeric unit of the growing chain (Fig. 10.45). A final thioesterase (TE) activity catalyzes lactone formation with concomitant release of 10.70 from the multienzyme complex. Introduction of TE activity after an upstream module allows various reduced-size macrolides (10.71-10.73, Eig. 10.45) to be obtained. 

Hanson RL, Goldberg S, Goswami A, et al. Purification and cloning of a ketoreductase used for the preparation of chiral alcohols. Advanced Synthesis and Catalysis 347(7-1-8), 1073, 2004. 

Life uses enzymes to catalyse asymmetric reactions, so the question is—can chemists The answer is yes, and there are many enzymes that can be produced in quantities large enough to be used in the catalytic synthesis of enantiomerically pure molecules. This field—known as biocatalysis—melds ideas in chemistry and biology, and we do not have the space here to discuss it in detail. We leave you with just one example the reduction of a ketone to an alcohol with an enzyme known as a ketoreductase. 

In 2005, Kambourakis et al. reported the biocatalytic reduction of a-alkyl-1,3-diketones and a-alkyl-/l-ketoesters by employing isolated NADPH-dependent ketoreductases (KREDs). The corresponding optically pure single keto alcohols and hydroxy esters were obtained in quantitative yields (Scheme 3.9). The same group had previously reported the total synthesis of a new class of triterpene derivatives with anti-HIV activity, statin and statin analogues, based on a diastereoselective reduction of a 2-alkyl-substituted 3-ketoglutarate by a KRED. The results are summarised in Scheme 3.9. 

Fig. 6. In vitro synthesis of actinorhodin biosynthetic intermediates and its shunt metabolites from acetyl CoA and malonyl CoA by the ActIORFI,2,3 polyketide synthase complex, the Actlll ketoreductase, the ActVII aromatase, ActIV cyclase, and the TcmO methyltransferase...

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