Nitriles biocatalysts

White-rot fungus has been used as a biocatalyst for reduction and alkylation. The reaction of aromatic -keto nitriles with the white-rot fungus Curvularia lunata CECT 2130 in the presence of alcohols afforded alkylation-reduction reaction [291]. Alcohols such as ethanol, propanol, butanol, and isobutanol could be used (Figure 8.39d). 

Some of the industrial biocatalysts are nitrile hydralase (Nitto Chemicals), which has a productivity of 50 g acrylamide per litre per hour penicillin G amidase (Smith Kline Beechem and others), which has a productivity of 1 - 2 tonnes 6-APA per kg of the immobilized enzyme glucose isomerase (Novo Nordisk, etc.), which has a productivity of 20 tonnes of high fmctose syrup per kg of immobilized enzyme (Cheetham, 1998). Wandrey et al. (2000) have given an account of industrial biocatalysis past, present, and future. It appears that more than 100 different biotransformations are carried out in industry. In the case of isolated enzymes the cost of enzyme is expected to drop due to an efficient production with genetically engineered microorganisms or higher cells. Rozzell (1999) has discussed myths and realities... 

Acryl amide is an important bulk chemical used in coagulators, soil conditioners and stock additives. The chemical synthesis has several drawbacks because the rate of acryl amide formation is lower than the formation of the by-product acrylic acid [54]. Further, the double bonds of the reactants and products cause by-product formations as well as formation of polymerization products. As a result of optimization with methods of molecular engineering, a very high activity of the biocatalyst nitrile hydratase at low temperature is yielded, enabling a successful biotransformation that is superior to the chemical route. Here, the synthesis is carried out at a low temperature of about 5°C, showing a conversion of 100%. 

The production of optically active cyanohydrins, with nitrile and alcohol functional groups that can each be readily derivatized, is an increasingly significant organic synthesis method. Hydroxynitrile lyase (HNL) enzymes have been shown to be very effective biocatalysts for the formation of these compounds from a variety of aldehyde and aliphatic ketone starting materials.Recent work has also expanded the application of HNLs to the asymmetric production of cyanohydrins from aromatic ketones. In particular, commercially available preparations of these enzymes have been utilized for high ee (5)-cyanohydrin synthesis from phenylacetones with a variety of different aromatic substitutions (Figure 8.1). 

One of the best examples for discussing biotransformations in neat solvents is the enzymatic hydrolysis of acrylonitrile, a solvent, to acrylamide, covered in Chapter 7, Section 7.1.1.1. For several applications of acrylamide, such as polymerization to polyacrylamide, very pure monomer is required, essentially free from anions and metals, which is difficult to obtain through conventional routes. In Hideaki Yamada s group (Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan), an enzymatic process based on a nitrile hydratase was developed which is currently run on a commercial scale at around 30 000-40 000 tpy with resting cells of third-generation biocatalyst from Rhodococcus rhodochrous J1 (Chapter 7, Figure 7.1). 

Although biocatalysis is the new kid on the block, more and more companies are using enzymes for chemical manufacture. One reason for this is that biocatalysts give sustainable alternatives to chemical manufacture, and not just for making chiral products. The synthesis of acrylamide via an enzyme-catalyzed water addition to acrylonitrile (2-propenenitrile) is a classic example (Figure 1.15). It uses the Rhodo-coccus enzyme nitrile hydratase. Commercialized in 1985 by Nitto Chemicals in... 

Nitto Chemical (now Dia-Nitrix) introduced a biosynthetic route from ACRN to acrylamide in Japan in 1985. This process uses an immobilized nitrile hydratase biocatalyst that converts the ACRN solution to acrylamide with a yield of 99.5%. This high yield allows a concentrated acrylamide solution to be made without the need for ACRN recycle or solution concentration. This process therefore has lower energy costs282. The initial plant capacity was 4,000 tonnes per year it was expanded to 20,000 tonnes per year in 1991 and that is its capacity as of 2002. 

The commercial bioconversion process employs the enzyme nitrile hydratase, which catalyzes the same reaction as the chemical process (Figure 31.15). The bioconversion process was introduced using wild-type cells of Rhodococcus or Pseudomonas, which were grown under selective conditions for optimal enzyme induction and repression of unwanted side activities. These biocatalysts are now replaced with recombinant cells expressing nitrile hydratase. The process consists of growing and immobilizing the whole cell biocatalyst and then reacting them with aqueous acrylonitrile, which is fed incrementally. When the reaction is complete the biocatalyst is recovered and the acrylamide solution is used as is. The bioconversion process runs at 10°C compared to 70°C for the copper-catalyzed process, is able to convert 100 percent of the acrylonitrile fed compared to 80 percent and achieves 50 percent concentration... 

Strategic importance of biocatalyzed synthetic transformations in terms of eco-compatibility and cheaper processes has been widely stressed previously. Among the developed biotransformations catalyzed by nitrilases or nitrile hydratases/ amidases systems, a special interest is focused toward stereoselective reactions able to give access to molecules otherwise impossible to obtain by classical chemical routes. Hereby, selected examples aim to offer an overview of research in this direction. Examples of industrial processes using nitrile hydrolyzing biocatalysts are also illustrated. 

Kinfe, H.H., Chhiba, V., Erederick, J., et al. 2009. Enantioselective hydrolysis of 3-hydroxy nitriles using the whole cells biocatalyst Rhodococcus rhodochrous ATCC BAA-870. Journal of Molecular Catalysis B Enzyme, 59 231-6. 

Osprian, I., Jarret, C., Strauss, U., et al. 1999. Large-scale preparation of a nitrile-hydrolysing biocatalyst Rhodococcus R 312 (CBS 717.73). Journal of Molecular Catalysis B-Enzyme, 6 555-60. 

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. 

The extent of amide production varied erratically, depending on the nitrile and the biocatalyst. It was negligible in the hydrolysis of la, except when PfNLase was employed as the biocatalyst [3, 5]. The o-chloro substituent in lb caused NIT-104 and 107 to produce considerable amounts of amide. NIT-106, which acted selectively in the hydrolysis of la and lb, sluggishly mediated the hydrolysis of Ic into a nearly equimolar mixture of acid and amide. In conclusion, there is no best nitrilase with regard to acid/amide selectivity. 

From these results we concluded that the preferred biocatalysts for the selective hydrolysis of la, lb and Ic into the (R)-acids are, respectively, NIT-104, NIT-106 and NIT-104, although the hydrolysis of lb and Ic is rather less enantioselective than would be desirable. Thus, in a preparative experiment, NIT-104 converted la (0.1 M starting concentration) into (R)-mandelic acid (98% conversion, 98% ee), attesting that under the prevailing conditions the racemisation of the nitrile is fast... 

Rhodococcus sp. N-774 and Pseudomonas chlororaphis B23 resting cells have been used at industrial scale (as first- and second-generation biocatalysts) for the biological production of acrylamide from acrylonitrile since the 1980s [21]. Currently Rhodococcus rhodochrous J1 is being adopted as a third-generation biocatalyst (Mitsubishi Rayon Co.). The industrial production of nicotinamide from 3-cyanopyridine is also operated with this strain (Lonza AG). However, despite the enormous potentiality of nitrile-hydrolyzing biocatalysts for industrial applications, only a few commercial processes have been realized [22]. 

Yildirim, S., Franco, T., Wohlgemuth, R., Kohler, H.P., Witholt, B. and Schmid, A. (2005) Recombinant chlorobenzene dioxygenase from Pseudomonas sp. P51 a biocatalyst for regioselective oxidation of aromatic nitriles. Advanced Synthesis Catalysis, 347,1060 1073. 

Although, most studies of biocatalysis in ionic liquids have been focussed on the use of isolated enzymes. However, whole cells have also been used as biocatalyst and their stability in ionic liquid media has been analysed. In this context, the stability of Rhodococcus R312 in a biphasic [bmim+][PFg ]-water system was studied using a nitrile hydrolysis as test reaction from where it was noticed that the microorganism maintained its activity in a better was in an ionic liquid than in a biphasic toluene-water system [61]. It has been also reported that baker s yeast [62] as well as Rhodococcus R312 and E. coli [63] maintain their activity in ionic liquids containing no or a very small separate aqueous phase. 

Biotransformations for the synthesis of asymmetric compounds can be divided into two types of reactions those where an achiral precursor is converted into a chiral product (true asymmetric synthesis) and those involving the resolution of a racemic mixture. Both types of reaction are used at Lonza, which is a leading producer of intermediates for the life science industry. Lonza also uses biocatalysis for the synthesis of achiral molecules, for example, an immobilized whole-cell biocatalyst is used for the nitrile hydratase-catalyzed synthesis of thousands of tons per year of nicotinamide from 3-cyanopyridine. 

Fukuda and coworkers have described one of the first applications of the enantioselective hydrolysis of nitriles (Scheme 12.1-6). Using a whole cell biocatalyst optically pure a-hydroxy acids (L-a-hydroxyisovaleric acid and L-a-hydroxyisocaproic acid) have been prepared from the racemates of the corresponding a-hydroxyni-... 

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