Highly efficient synthesis of(R)-1,3-butanediol via anti-Prelog reduction of 4-hydroxy-2-butanone with absolute stereoselectivity by a newly isolated Pichia kudriavzevii

(R)-1,3-butanediol is an important pharmaceutical intermediate, and the synthesis of(R)-1,3-butanediol using green biological methods has recently been of interest for industrial application. Here, a novel strain QC-1 that efficiently transforms 4-hydroxy-2-butanone to(R)-1,3-butanediol was isolated from soil samples. Based on morphological, physiological, and biochemical tests and 5.8 S-internal transcribed spacer sequencing, the strain was identified as Pichia kudriavzevii QC-1. The reaction conditions were optimized to 35 ℃, pH 8.0, rotation speed 200 rpm, and 6:5 mass ratio of glucose to 4-hydroxy-2-butanone. Evaluation of the effects of 4-hydroxy-2-butanone concentrations on yield and cell survival rate showed that 85.60 g·L^-1 product accumulated, with an enantiomeric excess of more than 99%, when 30 g·L^-14-hydroxy-2-butanone was added at 0, 10, and 30 h in a 3-L bioreactor. Thus, strain QC-1 showed excellent catalytic activity and stereoselectivity for the synthesis of(R)-1,3-butanediol from 4-hydroxy-2-butanone.

Redesign of a short-chain dehydrogenase/reductase for asymmetric synthesis of ethyl (R)-2-hydroxy-4-phenylbutanoate based on per-residue free energy decomposition and sequence conservatism analysis

As an important building block for the synthesis of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors,ethyl(R)-2-hy-droxyl-4-phenylbutanoate[(R)-HPBE]has attracted increasing attention.The key to industrial biosynthesis of(R)-HPBE is a biocatalyst that efficiently reduces ethyl 2-oxo-4-phenylbutanoate(OPBE)with high R-enantiose-lectivity.This paper proposed a strategy for identifying key residues involved in enantioselectivity control based on per-residue free energy decomposition and sequence conservatism analysis.Using this strategy,4 noncon-servative sites with high energy contribution to binding of OPBE were chosen as engineering targets,generating variant Mu27 with 99%conversion and 98%(R)ee value at substrate loading of up to 500 mmol/L.MD simu-lations suggested the higher stability and formation probability of Mu27-OPBEproR prereaction state as key rea-sons for the excellent R-enantioselectivity of Mu27 towards OPBE.The success in this study provides a viable approach for rational design of alcohol dehydrogenases with high enantioselectivity towards unnatural substrates.

Two pairs of unusual scalemic enantiomers from Isatis indigotica leaves

Two pairs of unusual scalemic enantiomers with a dimethoxyphenyl）ethyl]-2-methoxyindolin-3-one, novel carbon skeleton of 2-[1′-（4＂-hydroxy-3＂,5＂- named isatidifoliumindolinones A-D （1-4）, were isolated from an aqueous extract of lsatis indigotica leaves （da qing ye）. Their structures including absolute configurations were determined by spectroscopic data analysis combined with comparison of their experimental CD and calculated ECD spectra. Validity of the ECD spectra calculation to assign the absolute configurations is discussed. Plausible biosynthetic pathways of 1-4 are proposed. Stereochemistry-dependent activity against LPS-induced NO production in BY2 cells was observed, and among the stereoisomers compound 4 is most active.