Mandelic acid dehydrogenase

The present reaction was proven to occur even when the microorganism had been grown on peptone as the sole carbon source. These results lead to the conclusion that this enzyme system is produced constitutively. In the case of man-delate-pathway enzymes in Pseudomonas putida, (S)-mandelate dehydrogenase was shown to be produced in the presence of an inducer (mandelic acid or benzoylformic acid) [5]. Thus, the expression of the present oxidizing enzyme of A. bronchisepticus is different from that of R putida. 

When the resulting mixture of benzoylformic acid and (i )-mandelic acid was treated with a cell free extract of Streptomyces faecalis IFO 12964 in the presence of NADH,the keto acid can be effectively reduced to (i )-mandelic acid (Fig. 1). Fortunately the presence of A. bronchisepticus and its metabolite had no influence on the reduction of the keto acid. The regeneration of NADH was nicely achieved by coupling the reaction with reduction by formic acid with the aid of formate dehydrogenase. As a whole, the total conversion of racemic mandelic acid to the i -enantiomer proceeded with very high chemical and optical yields. The method is very simple and can be performed in a one-pot procedure [6]. 

Mandelic acid Benzoylformic acid Hydroxyisocaproate dehydrogenase... 

Benzaldehyde can be produced from benzoyl formate with whole cells of Pseudomonas putida ATCC 12633 as biocatalyst119 201 (Fig. 16.6-5). Alternatively, but less effectively, mandelic acid can be used as starting material. A pH of 5.4 was found to be optimal for benzaldehyde accumulation. At this proton concentration, partial inactivation of the benzaldehyde dehydrogenase isoenzymes and activation of the benzoyl formate decarboxylase are reported. Fed-batch cultivation prevented substrate inhibition. In situ product removal is necessary to prevent product inhibition. 

More recently, the focus has been put on formal nucleophilic substitution of —OH or —NH2 groups. To perform this biocatalytic variant of the Mitsunobu reaction, an oxidation-nucleophilic addition-reduction sequence is necessary, for which linked NAD-dependent oxidoreductases are ideally suited. The early contributions from the Forschungszentrum Jiilich [79] have been recently rediscovered by Kroutil and coworkers [80]. By combining a mandelate racemase (MR) with a mandelate dehydrogenase and an L-amino acid dehydrogenase, the authors could completely transform racemic mandelic acid into enantiopure (S)-phenyl-glycine (Scheme 8.16). 

Scheme 8.16 Formal Mitsunobu reaction by combining an alcohol dehydrogenase (here mandelate dehydrogenase, D-MDH) with an amino acid dehydrogenase (here l-AADH).

Enzyme-catalyzed syntheses of enantiomeric pure hydroxy acids use lactate dehydrogenases (LDH E.C. 1.1.1.27) or hydroxyisocaproate dehydrogenases (HicDH). Both kinds of enzymes are available as D- or L-specific catalysts. L-specific [5, 6] LDHs as well as D-specific [7-10] LDHs favorably catalyze the reduction of pyruvate, HicDHs (and mandelate dehydrogenase, too) convert keto acids with longer aliphatic or aromatic side chains. These enzymes can be isolated from Lactobacillus strains [11-14]. 

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