Baker's-Yeast-Mediated Reduction of Sulfur-Containing Compounds

Access to chiral α-substituted-β-hydroxy arylphosphonates enabled by biocatalytic dynamic reductive kinetic resolution

Ketoreductase (KRED)-catalyzed dynamic reductive kinetic resolution (DYRKR) of α-substituted-β-keto arylphosphonates was developed as a generic and stereoselective approach to synthesize chiral α-substituted-β-hydroxy arylphosphonates, with moderate-to-excellent isolated yield (up to 96%), good-to-excellent diastereoselectivity (up to >99 : <1 dr), and excellent enantioselectivity (up to >99% ee) being achieved.

Enzymatic reactions involving the heteroatoms from organic substrates

Several enzymatic reactions of heteroatom-containing compounds have been explored as unnatural substrates. Considerable advances related to the search for efficient enzymatic systems able to support a broader substrate scope with high catalytic performance are described in the literature. These reports include mainly native and mutated enzymes and whole cells biocatalysis. Herein, we describe the historical background along with the progress of biocatalyzed reactions involving the heteroatom(S, Se, B, P and Si) from hetero-organic substrates.

Exploiting Enzymatic Dynamic Reductive Kinetic Resolution (DYRKR) in Stereocontrolled Synthesis

Over the past two decades, the domains of both frontline synthetic organic chemistry and process chemistry and have seen an increase in crosstalk between asymmetric organic/organometallic approaches and enzymatic approaches to stereocontrolled synthesis. This review highlights the particularly auspicious role for dehydrogenase enzymes in this endeavor, with a focus on dynamic reductive kinetic resolutions (DYRKR) to "deracemize" building blocks, often setting two stereocenters in so doing. The scope and limitations of such dehydrogenase-mediated processes are overviewed, as are future possibilities for the evolution of enzymatic DYRKR.