Pyruvate decarboxylase-related hydroxy

Pyruvate Decarboxylase-Related Hydroxy Ketones and Diols as Enantiomerically Enriched Starting Materials in Organic Synthesis... 

The biogenesis of solerone 1 and related compounds was successfully rationalized by biomimetic model reactions. As key step we established the pyruvate decarboxylase catalyzed acyloin condensation of pyruvic acid with ethyl 4-oxobutanoate 4 or ethyl 2-oxoglutarate 3 with acetaldehyde. The importance of the ethyl ester function in 3 and 4 serving as substrates for the enzymatic formation of a-hydroxy ketones 5 and 6 was demonstrated. The identification of six yet unknown sherry compounds including acyloins 5 and 6, which have been synthesized for the first time, confirmed the relevance of the biosynthetic pathway. Application of MDGC-MS allowed the enantiodifferentiation of a-ketols and related lactones in complex sherry samples and disclosed details of their biogenetic relationship. 

Hydroxy-2-butanone (acetoin) is a characteristic constituent of butter flavour used for flavouring margarine and can be obtained as a by-product of molasses-based and lactic acid fermentations [49, 71]. The closely related 2,3-butanedione (diacetyl) has a much lower organoleptic threshold than acetoin and is an important strongly butter-like flavour compound in butter and other dairy products [72] in buttermilk, for instance, the diacetyl concentration is only about 2-4 mg [73]. a-Acetolactate (a-AL) is an intermediate of lactic acid bacteria mainly produced from pyruvate by a-acetolactate synthase. In most lactic acid bacteria, a-AL is decarboxylated to the metabolic end product acetoin by a-AL decarboxylase (ALDB) [71] (Scheme 23.5). 

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