The Large-Scale Biocatalytic Synthesis of Enantiopure Cyanohydrins

The Large-Scale Biocatalytic Synthesis of Enantiopure Cyanohydrins 

Peter Poechlauer, Wolfgang Skranc, and Marcel Wubbolts 

This section will focus on the development of (R)- and (S)-hydroxynitrile lyases as biocatalysts and their large-scale application. 

The addition of hydrogen cyanide to carbonyl compounds such as aldehydes or ketones leads to 2-hydroxynitriles (cyanohydrins). This reaction as depicted in Fig. 1 is remarkable in several ways it represents one of the easiest routes to carbon-carbon bond formation, and in many cases it creates a new stereocenter. 

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Poechlauer, P., Skranc, W. and Wubbolts, M. (2004) The large-scale biocatalytic synthesis of enantiopure cyanohydrins, in Asymmetric Catalysis on Industrial Scale (eds H.-U. Blaser and E. Schmidt), Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH, pp. 151-164. 

OECD Report, The Application of Biotechnology to Industrial Sustainability, 2001, http //www. Loecd.org/publications/e-book/9301061e.pdf Panke, S., Held, M., and Wubbolts, M. Curr. Op. Biotech. 2004, 35, 272-279 Plomp, P., de Boer, L., van Rooijen, R., and Meima, R. 2004, Patent WO 04/030468 Pochlauer, P., Skranc, W., and Wubbolts, M. The large-scale biocatalytic synthesis of enantiopure cyanohydrins in Asymmetric Catalysis on Industrial Scale, H. U. Blaser, and E. Schmidt (Eds.), Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, 2004,151-164 Schmid, A., Dordick, J. S., Hauer, B., Kiener, A., Wubbolts, M., and Wifholt, B. Nature,... 

The large-scale biocatalytic synthesis of enantiopure cyanohydrins,... 

I 7 The Large-Scale Biocatalytic Synthesis of Enantiopure Cyanohydrins... 

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