Using enzyme-, reaction- and process engineering, biocatalysts can be effectively combined to artificial atom- and step efficient cascades. Aiming for economic and ecologic efficiency, these enzyme cascades provide potent alternatives to classical synthesis strategies. With inexpensive starting materials like acetaldehyde and benzaldehyde, highly priced products with applications as building blocks or direct application as active pharmaceutical ingredients can be gained e.g. chiral diols, amino alcohols and isoquinolines. In order to access platforms of optically active, highly pure products, enzymes with varying substrate preferences and complementary stereo- and regioselectivities from toolboxes are modularly combined. These enzyme toolboxes encompass wild-type enzymes as well as engineered enzyme variants with designed activities and selectivities.<br/>Strong focus of our current research is the application of biotransformations in unconventional media, e.g. by using lyohilized whole cell catalysts micro-aqueous reaction systems. Due to immensely increased substrate concentrations in these non-buffered systems, high product concentrations and space-time-yields can be gained. In addition, cheap catalyst production, cell immanent cofactor supply and easy downstream processing renders the application of synthetic enzyme cascades in micro-aqueous reaction systems advantageous. Care has to be taken for appropriate solvent selection: the solvent should optimally be non-toxic and sustainably produced, and negative effects on the enzymes’ activities and selectivities (e.g. due to blocking of selected regions in the active side) should be avoided.

Atom- and step efficient modular synthetic enzyme cascades to chiral building blocks and active pharmaceutical ingredients

254th National Meeting (2017)

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