Biomaterial Database

Practical and convenient enzymatic synthesis of enantiopure alpha-amino acids and amides. 2002

Mei-Xiang Wang, and Shuang-Jun Lin

Center for Molecular Science, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100080, China. mxwang@infoc3.icas.ac.cn

Catalyzed by the nitrile hydratase and the amidease in Rhodococcus sp. AJ270 cells under very mild conditions, a number of alpha-aryl- and alpha-alkyl-substituted DL-glycine nitriles 1 rapidly underwent a highly enantioselective hydrolysis to afford D-(-)-alpha-amino acid amides 2 and L-(+)-alpha-amino acids 3 in high yields with excellent enantiomeric excesses in most cases. The overall enantioselectivity of the biotransformations of nitriles originated from the combined effects of a high L-enantioselective amidase and a low enantioselective nitrile hydratase. The influence of the substrates on both reaction efficiency and enantioselectivity was also discussed in terms of steric and electronic effects. Coupled with chemical hydrolysis of D-(-)-alpha-phenylglycine amide, biotransformation of DL-phenylglycine nitrile was applied in practical scale to produce both D- and L-phenylglycines in high optical purity.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D009570	Nitriles	Organic compounds containing the -CN radical. The concept is distinguished from CYANIDES, which denotes inorganic salts of HYDROGEN CYANIDE.	Nitrile
D002384	Catalysis	The facilitation of a chemical reaction by material (catalyst) that is not consumed by the reaction.	Catalyses
D006836	Hydro-Lyases	Enzymes that catalyze the breakage of a carbon-oxygen bond leading to unsaturated products via the removal of water. EC 4.2.1.	Dehydratase,Dehydratases,Hydrase,Hydrases,Hydro Lyase,Hydro-Lyase,Hydro Lyases,Lyase, Hydro,Lyases, Hydro
D006868	Hydrolysis	The process of cleaving a chemical compound by the addition of a molecule of water.
D000577	Amides	Organic compounds containing the -CO-NH2 radical. Amides are derived from acids by replacement of -OH by -NH2 or from ammonia by the replacement of H by an acyl group. (From Grant & Hackh's Chemical Dictionary, 5th ed)	Amide
D000581	Amidohydrolases	Any member of the class of enzymes that catalyze the cleavage of amide bonds and result in the addition of water to the resulting molecules.	Amidases,Amidohydrolase
D000596	Amino Acids	Organic compounds that generally contain an amino (-NH2) and a carboxyl (-COOH) group. Twenty alpha-amino acids are the subunits which are polymerized to form proteins.	Amino Acid,Acid, Amino,Acids, Amino
D001711	Biotransformation	The chemical alteration of an exogenous substance by or in a biological system. The alteration may inactivate the compound or it may result in the production of an active metabolite of an inactive parent compound. The alterations may be divided into METABOLIC DETOXICATION, PHASE I and METABOLIC DETOXICATION, PHASE II.
D012240	Rhodococcus	A bacterial genus of the order ACTINOMYCETALES.
D013237	Stereoisomerism	The phenomenon whereby compounds whose molecules have the same number and kind of atoms and the same atomic arrangement, but differ in their spatial relationships. (From McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 5th ed)	Molecular Stereochemistry,Stereoisomers,Stereochemistry, Molecular,Stereoisomer