Current Opinion in Biotechnology 2000-12-01

Hydroxynitrile lyases in stereoselective catalysis.

F Effenberger, S Förster, H Wajant

Index: Curr. Opin. Biotechnol. 11 , 532-539, (2000)

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Abstract

(R)- as well as (S)-cyanohydrins are now easily available as a result of the excellent accessibility, the relatively high stability and the easy handling of hydroxynitrile lyases (HNLs). The optimization of reaction conditions (solvent, temperature, and using site-directed mutagenesis, etc.) has enabled HNL-catalyzed preparations of optically active cyanohydrins on a technical scale. The enantioselectivity of chiral metal-complex-catalyzed additions of trimethylsilyl cyanide to aldehydes has been improved, but is, by far, not yet competitive with the HNL-catalyzed reactions.