Toluene dioxygenase, biocatalytic

Advantageous use of homochiral cyclohexadiene-cis-l,2-diol, available by means of biocatalytic oxidation of chlorobenzene with toluene dioxygenase, has enabled the synthesis of all four enantiomerically pure C18-sphingosines (Nugent, 1998), which are known inhibitors of protein kinase C and important in cellular response mediation for tumor promoters and growth factors. The four requisite diastere-omers of azido alcohol precursors were accessed by regioselective opening of epoxides with either azide or halide ions. 

Shindo K, Nakamura R, Osawa A, Kagami O, Kanoh K, Furukawa K, Misawa N (2005) Biocatalytic synthesis of monocyclic arene-dihydrodiols and -diols by Escherichia coli cells expressing hybrid toluene/biphenyl dioxygenase and dihydrodiol dehydrogenase genes. J Mol Catal B Enzym 35 134-141... 

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