Practical biocatalytic desymmetrization of meso-N-heterocyclic dicarboxamides and their application in the construction of aza-sugar containing nucleoside analogs

Rhodococcus as A Versatile Biocatalyst in Organic Synthesis

The application of purified enzymes as well as whole-cell biocatalysts in synthetic organic chemistry is becoming more and more popular, and both academia and industry are keen on finding and developing novel enzymes capable of performing otherwise impossible or challenging reactions. The diverse genus Rhodococcus offers a multitude of promising enzymes, which therefore makes it one of the key bacterial hosts in many areas of research. This review focused on the broad utilization potential of the genus Rhodococcus in organic chemistry, thereby particularly highlighting the specific enzyme classes exploited and the reactions they catalyze. Additionally, close attention was paid to the substrate scope that each enzyme class covers. Overall, a comprehensive overview of the applicability of the genus Rhodococcus is provided, which puts this versatile microorganism in the spotlight of further research.

Highly efficient biocatalytic desymmetrization of meso carbocyclic 1,3-dicarboxamides: a versatile route for enantiopure 1,3-disubstituted cyclohexanes and cyclopentanes

Highly efficient biocatalytic desymmetrization of meso carbocyclic 1,3-dicarboxamides to enantiopure 1,3-disubstituted cyclohexanes and cyclopentanes was realized.

Synthesis of tetrazole fused azepanes and quantum chemical topology study on the mechanism of the intramolecular cycloaddition reaction

Syntheses of novel tetrazolo azepanes by intramolecular 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition are described. Cyclization mechanistic topology study showed a pseudo concerted mechanism.

Enantioselective biotransformations of nitriles in organic synthesis

The hydration and hydrolysis of nitriles are valuable synthetic methods used to prepare carboxamides and carboxylic acids. However, chemical hydration and hydrolysis of nitriles involve harsh reaction conditions, have low selectivity, and generate large amounts of waste. Therefore, researchers have confined the scope of these reactions to simple nitrile substrates. However, biological transformations of nitriles are highly efficient, chemoselective, and environmentally benign, which has led synthetic organic chemists and biotechologists to study these reactions in detail over the last two decades. In nature, biological systems degrade nitriles via two distinct pathways: nitrilases catalyze the direct hydrolysis of nitriles to afford carboxylic acids with release of ammonia, and nitrile hydratases catalyze the conversion of nitriles into carboxamides, which then furnish carboxylic acids via hydrolysis in the presence of amidases. Researchers have subsequently developed biocatalytic methods into useful industrial processes for the manufacture of commodity chemicals, including acrylamide. Since the late 1990s, research by my group and others has led to enormous progress in the understanding and application of enantioselective biotransformations of nitriles in organic synthesis. In this Account, I summarize the important advances in enantioselective biotransformations of nitriles and amides, with a primary focus on research from my laboratory. I describe microbial whole-cell-catalyzed kinetic resolution of various functionalized nitriles, amino- and hydroxynitriles, and nitriles that contain small rings and the desymmetrization of prochiral and meso dinitriles and diamides. I also demonstrate how we can apply the biocatalytic protocol to synthesize natural products and bioactive compounds. These nitrile biotransformations offer an attractive and unique protocol for the enantioselective synthesis of polyfunctionalized organic compounds that are not readily obtainable by other methods. Nitrile substrates are readily available, and the mild reaction conditions are specific toward cyano and amido functional groups without interfering with other reactive functional groups. I anticipate that further advances in this field will lead to new and engineered nitrile-hydrolyzing enzymes or catalytic systems with improved activity and altered selectivity. These advances will broaden the scope of these transformations and their applications in organic synthesis.

Synthesis of quaternary-carbon-containing and functionalized enantiopure pentanecarboxylic acids from biocatalytic desymmetrization of meso-cyclopentane-1,3-dicarboxamides

Catalyzed by Rhodococcus erythropolis AJ270, a nitrile hydratase-amidase containing microbial whole-cell catalyst under mild conditions, enantioselective desymmetrizations of meso-cyclopentane-1,3-dicarbonitriles and cyclopentane-1,3-dicarboxamides were studied. Although the nitrile hydratase was found to exhibit high enzymatic activity, but low 1R enantioselectivity toward dinitriles, a number of 2,2-unsymmetrically substituted meso-cyclopentane-1,3-dicarboxamide substrates were converted by the 1S enantioselective amidase into quaternary carbon-bearing enantiopure (1S,2R,3R)-3-carbamoylcyclopentanecarboxylic acids in yields up to 94 %. The application of the method was demonstrated by convenient and practical transformations of the resulting (1S,2R,3R)-2-allyl-3-carbamoylcyclopentanecarboxylic acid derivatives into functionalized cyclopentane-fused δ-lactam and δ-lactone compounds.