Organic Letters 2012-04-20

Efficient synthesis of a chiral precursor for angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors in high space-time yield by a new reductase without external cofactors.

Nai-Dong Shen, Yan Ni, Hong-Min Ma, Li-Juan Wang, Chun-Xiu Li, Gao-Wei Zheng, Jie Zhang, Jian-He Xu

Index: Org. Lett. 14(8) , 1982-5, (2012)

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Abstract

A new reductase, CgKR2, with the ability to reduce ethyl 2-oxo-4-phenylbutyrate (OPBE) to ethyl (R)-2-hydroxy-4-phenylbutyrate ((R)-HPBE), an important chiral precursor for angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, was discovered. For the first time, (R)-HPBE with >99% ee was produced via bioreduction of OPBE at 1 M without external addition of cofactors. The space-time yield (700 g·L(-1)·d(-1)) was 27 times higher than the highest record.© 2012 American Chemical Society