Ravinder S. Jolly

Chiral Solvating Agents for Cyanohydrins and Carboxylic Acids

We have shown that a structure as simple as an ion pair of (R)- or (S)-mandelate and dimethylamminopyridinium ions possesses structural features that are sufficient for NMR enantiodiscrimination of cyanohydrins. Moreover, (1)H NMR data of cyanohydrins of known configuration obtained in the presence of the mandelate-dimethylaminopyridinium ion pair point to the existence of a correlation between chemical shifts and absolute configuration of cyanohydrins. Mandelate-DMAPH(+) ion pair and mandelonitrile form a 1:1 complex with an association constant of 338 M(-1) (DeltaG(0), -3.4 kcal/mol) for the (R)-mandelonitrile/(R)-mandelate-DMAPH(+) and 139 M(-1) (DeltaG(0), -2.9 kcal/mol) for the (R)-mandelonitrile/(S)-mandelate-DMAPH(+) complex. To understand the origin of enantiodiscrimination, the geometry optimization and energy minimization of the models of ternary complexes of (S)-mandelonitrile/(R)-mandelate/DMAPH(+) and (S)-mandelonitrile/(S)-mandelate/DMAPH(+) complexes was performed using DFT methodology (B3LYP) with the 6-31+G(d) basis set in Gaussian 3.0. Further, analysis of optimized molecular model obtained from theoretical studies suggested that (i) DMAP may be replaced with other amines, (ii) the hydroxyl group of mandelic acid is not necessary for stabilization of ternary complex and may be replaced with other groups such as methyl, (iii) the ion pair should form a stable ternary complex with any hydrogen-bond donor, provided its OH bond is sufficiently polarized, and (iv) alpha-H of racemic mandelic acid should also get resolved with optically pure mandelonitrile. These inferences were experimentally verified, which not only validated the proposed model but also led to development of a new chiral solvating agent for determination of ee of carboxylic acids and absolute configuration of aryl but not alkyl carboxylic acids.

A catalase-peroxidase for oxidation of β-lactams to their (R)-sulfoxides.

In this communication we report for the first time a biocatalytic method for stereoselective oxidation of β-lactams, represented by penicillin-G, penicillin-V and cephalosporin-G to their (R)-sulfoxides. The method involves use of a bacterium, identified as Bacillus pumilis as biocatalyst. The enzyme responsible for oxidase activity has been purified and characterized as catalase-peroxidase (KatG). KatG of B. pumilis is a heme containing protein showing characteristic heme spectra with soret peak at 406 nm and visible peaks at 503 and 635 nm. The major properties that distinguish B. pumilis KatG from other bacterial KatGs are (i) it is a monomer and contains one heme per monomer, whereas KatGs of other bacteria are dimers or tetramers and have low heme content of about one per dimer or two per tetramer and (ii) its 12-residue, N-terminal sequence obtained by Edman degradation did not show significant similarity with any of known KatGs.

Novel immunosuppressive agent caerulomycin A exerts its effect by depleting cellular iron content.

Recently, we have described the use of caerulomycin A (CaeA) as a potent novel immunosuppressive agent. Immunosuppressive drugs are crucial for long‐term graft survival following organ transplantation and treatment of autoimmune diseases, inflammatory disorders, hypersensitivity to allergens, etc. The objective of this study was to identify cellular targets of CaeA and decipher its mechanism of action.

Caerulomycin A Suppresses Immunity by Inhibiting T Cell Activity

Background Caerulomycin A (CaeA) is a known antifungal and antibiotic agent. Further, CaeA is reported to induce the expansion of regulatory T cell and prolongs the survival of skin allografts in mouse model of transplantation. In the current study, CaeA was purified and characterized from a novel species of actinomycetes, Actinoalloteichus spitiensis. The CaeA was identified for its novel immunosuppressive property by inhibiting in vitro and in vivo function of T cells. Methods Isolation, purification and characterization of CaeA were performed using High Performance Flash Chromatography (HPFC), NMR and mass spectrometry techniques. In vitro and in vivo T cell studies were conducted in mice using flowcytometry, ELISA and thymidine-[methyl-3H] incorporation. Results CaeA significantly suppressed T cell activation and IFN-γ secretion. Further, it inhibited the T cells function at G1 phase of cell cycle. No apoptosis was noticed by CaeA at a concentration responsible for inducing T cell retardation. Furthermore, the change in the function of B cells but not macrophages was observed. The CaeA as well exhibited substantial inhibitory activity in vivo. Conclusion This study describes for the first time novel in vitro and in vivo immunosuppressive function of CaeA on T cells and B cells. CaeA has enough potential to act as a future immunosuppressive drug.

Bioreduction of methyl heteroaryl and aryl heteroaryl ketones in high enantiomeric excess with newly isolated fungal strains

Enantioenriched heteroaryl ethanols and aryl heteroarylmethanols are important intermediates and structural motifs in medicinal chemistry. Asymmetric biocatalytic reduction of corresponding ketones provides a straightforward approach for preparation of these compounds. Accordingly, three newly isolated fungal strains have been described, which produced the desired heteroaryl alcohols in high enantiomeric excess (ee). A broad substrate specificity was observed within these limited number of biocatalysts as demonstrated by preparation of a variety of heteroaryl alcohols, including (S)-5-(1-hydroxyethyl)furo[2,3-c]pyridine, a key intermediate for HIV-1 reverse transcriptase inhibitor, (S)-phenyl(pyridin-2-yl)methanol, an analgesic and (S,S)-2,6-bis(1-hydroxyethyl)pyridine, a chiral building block, mostly in >99% ee and 80-92% yield. Micro-morphologically, one of the isolate was found to be similar to Penicillium funiculosum. However, its β-tubulin sequence showed only 88% sequence identity with the known β-tubulin sequences of Penicillium. It may, therefore, represent a new species of Penicillium. The other biocatalysts were identified as Alternaria alternata and Talaromyces flavus.

A highly efficient designer cell for enantioselective reduction of ketones

A designer cell, surf-crs-gdh, coexpressing carbonyl reductase (crs) and glucose dehydrogenase (gdh) on the cell surface has been constructed and its enzyme activities are compared with those of the corresponding cell, cyto-crs-gdh, coexpressing crs and gdh in cytosol. For various ketones, surf-crs-gdh exhibited 48- to 265-fold higher crs activity per unit protein compared to cyto-crs-gdh.

Biocatalyzed asymmetric reduction of benzils to either benzoins or hydrobenzoins: pH dependent switch

Enantiopure benzoins and hydrobenzoins are precursors of various pharmaceuticals and biologically active compounds. In addition, hydrobenzoins are precursors of chiral ligands and auxiliaries in stereoselective organic synthesis. Biocatalytic reduction of benzils is a straightforward approach to prepare these molecules. However, known methods are not selective and lead to formation of a mixture of benzoin and hydrobenzoin, requiring expensive separation procedures. Here, we describe an enzyme system Talaromyces flavus, which exhibited excellent pH dependent selectivity for the conversion of benzil to either benzoin or hydrobenzion in high ee. Thus, (S)-benzoin was the exclusive product at pH 5.0 (ee >99%), whereas at pH 7.0, (S,S)-hydrobenzoin (ee >99%, dl/meso 97 : 3) was the exclusive product. The observed pH dependent selectivity was shown to be due to the presence of multiple enzymes in Talaromyces flavus, which specifically accepted either benzil or benzoin as a substrate and exhibited different pH profiles of their activity. The biocatalyst efficiently reduced a variety of symmetrical and unsymmetrical benzils. Moreover, a 36.4 kDa benzoin reductase was purified, the N-terminal sequence of which did not show a significant similarity to any of the known reductase/dehydrogenase in the database. The protein therefore appears to be a novel reductase.

Characterization of an Indole-3-Acetamide Hydrolase from Alcaligenes faecalis subsp. parafaecalis and Its Application in Efficient Preparation of Both Enantiomers of Chiral Building Block 2,3-Dihydro-1,4-Benzodioxin-2-Carboxylic Acid.

Both the enantiomers of 2,3-dihydro-1,4-benzodioxin-2-carboxylic acid are valuable chiral synthons for enantiospecific synthesis of therapeutic agents such as (S)-doxazosin mesylate, WB 4101, MKC 242, 2,3-dihydro-2-hydroxymethyl-1,4-benzodioxin, and N-[2,4-oxo-1,3-thiazolidin-3-yl]-2,3-dihydro-1,4-benzodioxin-2-carboxamide. Pharmaceutical applications require these enantiomers in optically pure form. However, currently available methods suffer from one drawback or other, such as low efficiency, uncommon and not so easily accessible chiral resolving agent and less than optimal enantiomeric purity. Our interest in finding a biocatalyst for efficient production of enantiomerically pure 2,3-dihydro-1,4-benzodioxin-2-carboxylic acid lead us to discover an amidase activity from Alcaligenes faecalis subsp. parafaecalis, which was able to kinetically resolve 2,3-dihydro-1,4-benzodioxin-2-carboxyamide with E value of >200. Thus, at about 50% conversion, (R)-2,3-dihydro-1,4-benzodioxin-2-carboxylic acid was produced in >99% e.e. The remaining amide had (S)-configuration and 99% e.e. The amide and acid were easily separated by aqueous (alkaline)-organic two phase extraction method. The same amidase was able to catalyse, albeit at much lower rate the hydrolysis of (S)-amide to (S)-acid without loss of e.e. The amidase activity was identified as indole-3-acetamide hydrolase (IaaH). IaaH is known to catalyse conversion of indole-3-acetamide (IAM) to indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), which is phytohormone of auxin class and is widespread among plants and bacteria that inhabit plant rhizosphere. IaaH exhibited high activity for 2,3-dihydro-1,4-benzodioxin-2-carboxamide, which was about 65% compared to its natural substrate, indole-3-acetamide. The natural substrate for IaaH indole-3-acetamide shared, at least in part a similar bicyclic structure with 2,3-dihydro-1,4-benzodioxin-2-carboxamide, which may account for high activity of enzyme towards this un-natural substrate. To the best of our knowledge this is the first application of IaaH in production of industrially important molecules.