Kinetic resolution reversible reaction

Orthoformates have been used in the lipase-catalyzed esterification aimed at the kinetic resolution of racemic acids such as flurbiprofen, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (Figure 6.18). Orthoformates trap the water as it is formed through hydrolysis, and therefore prevent the reverse reaction, and, at the same time, provide the alcohol for the esteriflcation [65]. 

When a reverse procedure was applied, i.e. enzymatic acetylation of racemic 3, formed in situ from the appropriate aldehydes and thiols, the reaction proceeded under the conditions of dynamic kinetic resolution and gave enantiomerically enriched acetates 2 with 65-90% yields and with ees up to 95% (Equation 2). It must be mentioned that the addition of silica proved crucial, as in its absence no racemization of the initially formed substrates 3 occurred and the reaction stopped at the 50% conversion. 

Hydrogen transfer reactions are reversible, and recently this has been exploited extensively in racemization reactions in combination with kinetic resolutions of racemic alcohols. This resulted in dynamic kinetic resolutions, kinetic resolutions of 100% yield of the desired enantiopure compound [30]. The kinetic resolution is typically performed with an enzyme that converts one of the enantiomers of the racemic substrate and a hydrogen transfer catalyst that racemizes the remaining substrate (see also Scheme 20.31). Some 80 years after the first reports on transfer hydrogenations, these processes are well established in synthesis and are employed in ever-new fields of chemistry. 

The reversibility of the reaction can be used to good effect in asymmetric dehydrogenation and dynamic kinetic resolutions (see later for discussion). 

We have used a series of biocatalysts produced by site-directed mutations at the active site of L-phenylalanine dehydrogenase (PheDH) of Bacillus sphaericus, which expand the substrate specificity range beyond that of the wild-type enzyme, to catalyse oxidoreduc-tions involving various non-natural L-amino acids. These may be produced by enantiose-lective enzyme-catalysed reductive amination of the corresponding 2-oxoacid. Since the reaction is reversible, these biocatalysts may also be used to effect a kinetic resolution of a D,L racemic mixture. ... 

The reversibility of hydrogen transfer reactions has been exploited for the racemi-zation of alcohols and amines. By coupling the racemization process with an enantioselective enzyme-catalyzed acylation reaction, it has been possible to achieve dynamic kinetic resolution reactions. The combination of lipases or... 

Because an equilibrium constant is not affected by catalysis, an enzyme that accelerates a forward reaction must also accelerate the reverse or retro-reaction. Furthermore, the enantioselectivity for both reactions will be identical. Antibody 38C2 catalyzes both the forward and retro-aldol reaction, and we envisioned that it may be useful in the kinetic resolution of aldols. Because the product enantiomer from the forward aldol reaction is the substrate in the retro-aldol reaction, the opposite... 

When looking at the above described dynamic kinetic resolution from a green point of view, then one thing can immediately be noticed This reaction would be unnecessary if the starting material had been synthesized enantioselectively. A much more efficient way of performing a dynamic kinetic resolution is thus to start with a prochiral material. The reversible addition of another building block to this prochiral starting material is not only the formation of a new bond but at the same time a pathway for the rapid racemisation of the intermediate... 

Instead of starting with racemic starting material it is also possible to use symmetric substrates [25]. The hydrolase selectively catalyses the hydrolysis of just one of the two esters, amides or nitriles, generating an enantiopure product in 100% yield (Scheme 6.7). No recycling is necessary, nor need catalysts be combined, as in the dynamic kinetic resolutions, and no follow-up steps are required, as in the kinetic resolutions plus inversion sequences. Consequently this approach is popular in organic synthesis. Moreover, symmetric diols, diamines and (activated) diacids can be converted selectively into chiral mono-esters and mono-amides if the reaction is performed in dry organic solvents. This application of the reversed hydrolysis reaction expands the scope of this approach even further [22, 24, 27]. 

The aldehyde substrates may be used as racemic mixtures in many cases, as the aldolase catalyzed reactions can concomitantly accomplish kinetic resolution. For example, when DHAP was combined with d- and L-glyceraldehyde in the presence of FDP aldolase, the reaction proceeded 20 times faster with the D-enantiomer. Fuc 1-P aldolase and Rha 1-P aldolase show kinetic preferences (greater than 19/1) for the L-enantiomer of 2-hydroxy-aldehydes. Alternatively, these reactions may be allowed to equilibrate to the more thermodynamically favored products. This thermodynamic approach is particularly useful when the aldol products can cyclize to the pyranose form. Since the reaction is reversible under thermodynamic conditions, the product with the fewest 1,3-diaxial interactions will predominate. This was demonstrated in the formation of 5-deoxy-5-methyl-fructose-l-phosphate as a minor product (Scheme 5.5).20a 25 The major product, which is thermodynamically more stable, arises from the kinetically less reaction acceptor. 

Lipases are the most frequently used enzymes in organic chemistry, catalyzing the hydrolysis of carboxylic acid esters or the reverse reaction in organic solvents [3,5,34,70]. The first example of directed evolution of an enantioselective enzyme according to the principle outlined in Fig. 11.2 concerns the hydrolytic kinetic resolution of the chiral ester 9 catalyzed by the bacterial lipase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa [8], This enzyme is composed of 285 amino acids [32]. It is an active catalyst for the model reaction, but enantioselectivity is poor (ee 5 % in favor of the (S)-acid 10 at about 50 % conversion) (Fig. 11.10) [71]. The selectivity factor E, which reflects the relative rate of the reactions of the (S)- and (R)-substrates, is only 1.1. 

The above examples demonstrate the DSR concept as a useful approach to generate and interrogate simultaneously complex systems for different applications. A range of reversible reactions, in particular carbon-carbon bond-formation transformations, was used to demonstrate dynamic system formation in both organic and aqueous solutions. By applying selection pressures, the optimal constituents were subsequently selected and amplified from the dynamic system by irreversible processes under kinetic control. The DSR technique can be used not only for identification purposes, but also for evaluation of the specificities of selection pressures in one-pot processes. The nature of the selection pressure applied leads to two fundamentally different classes external selection pressures, exemplified by enzyme-catalyzed resolution, and internal selection pressures, exemplified by transformation- and/or crystallization-induced resolution. Future endeavors in this area include, for example, the exploration of more complex dynamic systems, multiple resolution schemes, and variable systemic control. 

Lipases have been extensively used for the kinetic resolution of racemic alcohols or carboxylic acids in organic solvents. Chiral alcohols are usually reacted with achiral activated esters (such as vinyl, isopropenyh and trichloroethyl esters) for shifting the equilibrium to the desired products and avoiding problems of reversibility. For the same reasons, chiral acids are often resolved by using acidolysis of esters. In both cases, the overall stereoselectivity is affected by the thermodynamic activity of water of water favors hydrolytic reactions leading to a decrease in the optical purity of the desired ester. Direct esterifications are therefore difficult to apply since water formed during the reaction may increase the o of the system, favors reversibiUty, and diminishes the overall stereoselectivity. 

Alternatively, enantiopure 2-hydroxycarboxylic acids can be obtained via a dynamic kinetic resolution of the (chemically synthesized) cyanohydrin in the presence of an enantioselective nitrilase (EC 3.5.5.1) (see Figure 16.1, route b). Racemization of the cyanohydrin, via reversible dehydrocyanation, takes place readily at pH 7 or above. The methodology [1] is attractive on account of the mild reaction conditions and is industrially applied in the multiton-scale synthesis of (R)-mandehc acid [2]. 

Dehydrogenative oxidation of secondary alcohols in the presence of acetone is the reverse process of transfer hydrogenation of ketones with 2-propanol [87b, 95b]. Kinetic resolution of racemic secondary alcohols is possible using this process with an appropriate chiral catalyst and suitable reaction conditions. As exemplified in Scheme 45, a variety of racemic aromatic or unsaturated alcohols can be effectively resolved in acetone with a diamine-based Ru(II) complex 42 or 50 [129]. Chiral alcohols with an excellent optical purity are recovered at about... 

Kellogg, Feringa and co-workers have achieved successful dynamic kinetic resolution reactions using cyclic hemiacetals as substrates[13, 14l The enzyme-catalyzed acetylation of 6-hydroxypyranone shown in Fig. 9-6 has been achieved with reasonable enantioselectivity with essentially complete conversion. The racemisation of the hemiacetal is presumed to proceed via reversible ring-opening of the pyranone1 1. The rate of reaction was found to greatly increase when the enzyme, lipase PS (Pseudomonas sp.) was immobilized on Hyflo Super Cell (HSC). 

The asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of ketones is an effective way to prepare enan-tiopure alcohols." " We were attracted to this reaction as we anticipated that one could exploit the reversibility of the reaction to perform either for the enantioselective reduction or for the kinetic resolution of racemic alcohols via oxidation. This behaviour is reminiscent of alcohol dehydrogenases which can operate either as oxidases or reductases. ... 

Having developed an efficient artificial transfer hydrogenase, we attempted to apply the same methodology to the reverse reaction the kinetic resolution of racemic alcohols. To our disappointment, we were forced to use strong oxidizing agents (eg. f-BuOOH rather than acetone, in the spirit of an Oppenauer-type mechanism) to drive the reaction to completion. We speculate that, in the presence of water, the ruthenium is unable to abstract the j8-hydrogen on the prochiral alcohol. 

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