Sarah Gaßmeyer

Arylmalonate Decarboxylase-Catalyzed Asymmetric Synthesis of Both Enantiomers of Optically Pure Flurbiprofen

The bacterial decarboxylase (AMDase) catalyzes the enantioselective decarboxylation of prochiral arylmalonates with high enantioselectivity. Although this reaction would provide a highly sustainable synthesis of active pharmaceutical compounds such as flurbiprofen or naproxen, competing spontaneous decarboxylation has so far prevented the catalytic application of AMDase. Here, we report on reaction engineering and an alternate protection group strategy for the synthesis of these compounds that successfully suppresses the side reaction and provides pure arylmalonic acids for subsequent enzymatic conversion. Protein engineering increased the activity of the synthesis of the (S)‐ and (R)‐enantiomers of flurbiprofen. These results demonstrated the importance of synergistic effects in the optimization of this decarboxylase. The asymmetric synthesis of both enantiomers in high optical purity (>99 %) and yield (>90 %) can be easily integrated into existing industrial syntheses of flurbiprofen, thus providing a sustainable method for the production of this important pharmaceutical ingredient.

STD-NMR-Based Protein Engineering of the Unique Arylpropionate-Racemase AMDase G74C.

Structure‐guided protein engineering achieved a variant of the unique racemase AMDase G74C, with 40‐fold increased activity in the racemisation of several arylaliphatic carboxylic acids. Substrate binding during catalysis was investigated by saturation‐transfer‐difference NMR (STD‐NMR) spectroscopy. All atoms of the substrate showed interactions with the enzyme. STD‐NMR measurements revealed distinct nuclear Overhauser effects in experiments with and without molecular conversion. The spectroscopic analysis led to the identification of several amino acid residues whose substitutions increased the activity of G74C. Single amino acid exchanges increased the activity moderately; structure‐guided saturation mutagenesis yielded a quadruple mutant with a 40 times higher reaction rate. This study presents STD‐NMR as versatile tool for the analysis of enzyme–substrate interactions in catalytically competent systems and for the guidance of protein engineering.

Sequence-Based Screening for Rare Enzymes: New Insights into the World of AMDases Reveal a Conserved Motif and 58 Novel Enzymes Clustering in Eight Distinct Families

Arylmalonate Decarboxylases (AMDases, EC 4.1.1.76) are very rare and mostly underexplored enzymes. Currently only four known and biochemically characterized representatives exist. However, their ability to decarboxylate α-disubstituted malonic acid derivatives to optically pure products without cofactors makes them attractive and promising candidates for the use as biocatalysts in industrial processes. Until now, AMDases could not be separated from other members of the aspartate/glutamate racemase superfamily based on their gene sequences. Within this work, a search algorithm was developed that enables a reliable prediction of AMDase activity for potential candidates. Based on specific sequence patterns and screening methods 58 novel AMDase candidate genes could be identified in this work. Thereby, AMDases with the conserved sequence pattern of Bordetella bronchiseptica’s prototype appeared to be limited to the classes of Alpha-, Beta-, and Gamma-proteobacteria. Amino acid homologies and comparison of gene surrounding sequences enabled the classification of eight enzyme clusters. Particularly striking is the accumulation of genes coding for different transporters of the tripartite tricarboxylate transporters family, TRAP transporters and ABC transporters as well as genes coding for mandelate racemases/muconate lactonizing enzymes that might be involved in substrate uptake or degradation of AMDase products. Further, three novel AMDases were characterized which showed a high enantiomeric excess (>99%) of the (R)-enantiomer of flurbiprofen. These are the recombinant AmdA and AmdV from Variovorax sp. strains HH01 and HH02, originated from soil, and AmdP from Polymorphum gilvum found by a data base search. Altogether our findings give new insights into the class of AMDases and reveal many previously unknown enzyme candidates with high potential for bioindustrial processes.

Improvement of the process stability of arylmalonate decarboxylase by immobilization for biocatalytic profen synthesis

The enzyme arylmalonate decarboxylase (AMDase) enables the selective synthesis of enantiopure (S)-arylpropinates in a simple single-step decarboxylation of dicarboxylic acid precursors. However, the poor enzyme stability with a half-life time of about 1.2 h under process conditions is a serious limitation of the productivity, which results in a need for high catalyst loads. By immobilization on an amino C2 acrylate carrier the operational stability of the (S)-selective AMDase variant G74C/M159L/C188G/V43I/A125P/V156L was increased to a half-life of about 8.6 days, which represents a 158-fold improvement. Further optimization was achieved by simple immobilization of the cell lysate to eliminate the cost- and time intensive enzyme purification step.

Reaction engineering of biocatalytic (S)-naproxen synthesis integrating in-line process monitoring by Raman spectroscopy

Biocatalytic (S)-naproxen synthesis using an (S)-selective arylmalonate decarboxylase mutant (AMDase G74C/M159L/C188G/V43I/A125P/V156L, AMDase-CLGIPL) exposes a promising environmentally friendly alternative to conventional chemical synthesis strategies. The reaction progress of naproxen synthesis catalyzed by AMDase-CLGIPL covalently immobilized onto a robust acrylate carrier was investigated with respect to reaction engineering. Kinetic characterization of the immobilized enzyme reveals a KM value of 22.1 ± 0.1 mM in the naproxen malonate conversion and an inhibiting effect of the produced naproxen with a Ki of 26.3 ± 1.4 mM. However, an effective process can be realized without in situ product removal yielding (S)-naproxen with an ee of 99%. By optimizing the product work-up, an isolated yield of 92% was achieved with total turnover numbers between 83 000 and 107 000 in five repetitive batches. Furthermore, process monitoring with in-line Raman spectroscopy was successfully applied to analyze the reaction progress with a root mean square error of prediction of 0.8 mM (corresponding to 4%).