Nitrilases in the Enantioselective Synthesis of a-Hydroxycarboxylic Acids

Fred van Rantwijk, Cesar Mateo, Andrzej Chmura, Bruno C. M. Fernandes and Roger A. Sheldon 

This nitrilase dynamic kinetic resolution (DKR) methodology depends on the availability of highly enantioselective biocatalysts that generate a minimum amount of amide. This latter issue may seem trivial and has long been disregarded somewhat, but reports of modest amounts of amide co-products date back to the early days of nitrilase enzymology. Only recently has the subject come under more intense scrutiny [3-5] and has a relationship with the stereochemistry of the nitrile been demonstrated [3, 5]. Hence, we set out to investigate the enantiomer and chemical selectivity of nitrilases in the hydrolysis of a representative set of cyanohydrins. 

Modem Biocatalpis Stereoselective and EnvironmenkMy Friendly Reactions. Edited by Wolf-Dieter Fessner and Thorleif Anthonsen Copyright 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH Co. KGaA, Weinheim ISBN 978-3-527-32071-4 

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