Towards practical biocatalytic Baeyer-Villiger reactions: applying a thermostable enzyme in the gram-scale synthesis of optically-active lactones in a two-liquid-phase system.

ABSTRACT: Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenases (BVMOs) are extremely promising catalysts useful for enantioselective oxidation reactions of ketones, but organic chemists have not used them widely due to several reasons. These include instability of the enzymes in the case of in vitro and even in vivo systems, reactant/product inhibition, problems with upscaling and the necessity of using specialized equipment. The present study shows that the thermally stable phenylacetone monooxygenase (PAMO) and recently engineered mutants can be used as a practical catalysts for enantioselective Baeyer-Villiger oxidations of several ketones on a preparative scale under in vitro conditions. For this purpose several parameters such as buffer composition, the nature of the solvent system and the co-factor regeneration sys

SUBMITTER: Schulz F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1399458 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature