Joerg H. Schrittwieser

Recent biocatalytic oxidation–reduction cascades

The combination of an oxidation and a reduction in a cascade allows performing transformations in a very economic and efficient fashion. The challenge is how to combine an oxidation with a reduction in one pot, either by running the two reactions simultaneously or in a stepwise fashion without isolation of intermediates. The broader availability of various redox enzymes nowadays has triggered the recent investigation of various oxidation–reduction cascades.

RECENT TRENDS AND NOVEL CONCEPTS IN COFACTOR- DEPENDENT BIOTRANSFORMATIONS

Cofactor-dependent enzymes catalyze a broad range of synthetically useful transformations. However, the cofactor requirement also poses economic and practical challenges for the application of these biocatalysts. For three decades, considerable research effort has been devoted to the development of reliable in situ regeneration methods for the most commonly employed cofactors, particularly NADH and NADPH. Today, researchers can choose from a plethora of options, and oxidoreductases are routinely employed even on industrial scale. Nevertheless, more efficient cofactor regeneration methods are still being developed, with the aim of achieving better atom economy, simpler reaction setups, and higher productivities. Besides, cofactor dependence has been recognized as an opportunity to confer novel reactivity upon enzymes by engineering their cofactors, and to couple (redox) biotransformations in multi-enzyme cascade systems. These novel concepts will help to further establish cofactor-dependent biotransformations as an attractive option for the synthesis of biologically active compounds, chiral building blocks, and bio-based platform molecules.

Artificial Biocatalytic Linear Cascades for Preparation of Organic Molecules

The review compiles artificial cascades involving enzymes with a focus on the last 10 years. A cascade is defined as the combination of at least two reaction steps in a single reaction vessel without isolation of the intermediates, whereby at least one step is catalyzed by an enzyme. Additionally, cascades performed in vivo and in vitro are discussed separately, whereby in vivo cascades are defined here as cascades relying on cofactor recycling by the metabolism or on a metabolite from the living organism. The review introduces a systematic classification of the cascades according to the number of enzymes in the linear sequence and differentiates between cascades involving exclusively enzymes and combinations of enzymes with non-natural catalysts or chemical steps. Since the number of examples involving two enzymes is predominant, the two enzyme cascades are further subdivided according to the number, order, and type of redox steps. Furthermore, this classification differentiates between cascades where all reaction steps are performed simultaneously, sequentially, or in flow.

Biocatalytic organic synthesis of optically pure (S)-scoulerine and berbine and benzylisoquinoline alkaloids.

A chemoenzymatic approach for the asymmetric total synthesis of the title compounds is described that employs an enantioselective oxidative C–C bond formation catalyzed by berberine bridge enzyme (BBE) in the asymmetric key step. This unique reaction yielded enantiomerically pure (R)-benzylisoquinoline derivatives and (S)-berbines such as the natural product (S)-scoulerine, a sedative and muscle relaxing agent. The racemic substrates rac-1 required for the biotransformation were prepared in 4–8 linear steps using either a Bischler–Napieralski cyclization or a C1–Cα alkylation approach. The chemoenzymatic synthesis was applied to the preparation of fourteen enantiomerically pure alkaloids, including the natural products (S)-scoulerine and (R)-reticuline, and gave overall yields of up to 20% over 5–9 linear steps.

Novel carbon–carbon bond formations for biocatalysis

Research highlights ► Novel C–C bond formations from lyases, oxidoreductases and transferases reviewed. ► Highlights from lyases are the Stetter reaction, and the synthesis of N-heterocyclases and the first intermolecular Diels-Alderase. ► The highlight from oxidoreductases is the aerobic oxidative C–C coupling.

Deracemization By Simultaneous Bio‐oxidative Kinetic Resolution and Stereoinversion

Deracemization, that is, the transformation of a racemate into a single product enantiomer with theoretically 100 % conversion and 100 % ee, is an appealing but also challenging option for asymmetric synthesis. Herein a novel chemo-enzymatic deracemization concept by a cascade is described: the pathway involves two enantioselective oxidation steps and one non-stereoselective reduction step, enabling stereoinversion and a simultaneous kinetic resolution. The concept was exemplified for the transformation of rac-benzylisoquinolines to optically pure (S)-berbines. The racemic substrates were transformed to optically pure products (ee>97 %) with up to 98 % conversion and up to 88 % yield of isolated product.

The role of biocatalysis in the asymmetric synthesis of alkaloids.

This article reviews the progress in chemo-enzymatic alkaloid synthesis over the last 25 years, focusing on recent developments that have led to significant improvements in terms of step-economy and yield.

One-pot combination of enzyme and Pd nanoparticle catalysis for the synthesis of enantiomerically pure 1,2-amino alcohols

One-pot combinations of sequential catalytic reactions can offer practical and ecological advantages over classical multi-step synthesis schemes. In this context, the integration of enzymatic and chemo-catalytic transformations holds particular potential for efficient and selective reaction sequences that would not be 10 possible using either method alone. Here we report the one-pot combination of alcohol dehydrogenasecatalysed asymmetric reduction of 2-azido ketones and Pd nanoparticle-catalysed hydrogenation of the resulting azido alcohols, which gives access to both enantiomers of aromatic 1,2-amino alcohols in high yields and excellent optical purity (ee >99%). Furthermore, we demonstrate the incorporation of an upstream azidolysis and a downstream acylation step into the one-pot system, thus establishing a highly 15 integrated synthesis of the antiviral natural product (S)-tembamide in 73% yield (ee >99%) over 4 steps. Avoiding the purification and isolation of intermediates in this synthetic sequence leads to an unprecedentedly low ecological footprint, as quantified by E-factor and solvent demand.

Inverting the Regioselectivity of the Berberine Bridge Enzyme by Employing Customized Fluorine‐Containing Substrates

Fluorine is commonly applied in pharmaceuticals to block the degradation of bioactive compounds at a specific site of the molecule. Blocking of the reaction center of the enzyme-catalyzed ring closure of 1,2,3,4-tetrahydrobenzylisoquinolines by a fluoro moiety allowed redirecting the berberine bridge enzyme (BBE)-catalyzed transformation of these compounds to give the formation of an alternative regioisomeric product namely 11-hydroxy-functionalized tetrahydroprotoberberines instead of the commonly formed 9-hydroxy-functionalized products. Alternative strategies to change the regioselectivity of the enzyme, such as protein engineering, were not applicable in this special case due to missing substrate–enzyme interactions. Medium engineering, as another possible strategy, had clear influence on the regioselectivity of the reaction pathway, but did not lead to perfect selectivity. Thus, only substrate tuning by introducing a fluoro moiety at one potential reactive carbon center switched the reaction to the formation of exclusively one regioisomer with perfect enantioselectivity.

Deracemisation of benzylisoquinoline alkaloids employing monoamine oxidase variants

Chemo-enzymatic deracemisation was applied to obtain the (S)-enantiomer of 1-benzylisoquinolines from the racemate in high isolated yield (up to 85%) and excellent optical purity (ee > 97%). The one-pot deracemisation protocol encompassed enantioselective oxidation by a monoamine oxidase (MAO-N) and concomitant reduction of the resulting iminium species by ammonia-borane. The challenge was the oxidation at the sterically demanding chiral centre. Recently developed variants of MAO-N, featuring an enlarged active-site pocket, turned out to be suitable biocatalysts for these substrates. In contrast to previous MAO-N variants, which preferentially converted the (S)-enantiomer, the MAO-N variant D11 used in the present study was found to oxidise all tested benzylisoquinoline substrates with (R)-enantiopreference. The structural determinants of enantioselectivity were investigated by means of protein–ligand docking simulations. The applicability of the deracemisation system was demonstrated on preparative scale (150 mg) for three benzylisoquinoline alkaloids (natural as well as non-natural), including the hypotensive and antispasmodic agent (S)-reticuline.