Transition metal- and lipase-catalyzed reactions : Dynamic resolutions, hydrogen transfer and enzyme engineering

Sammanfattning: This thesis mainly focuses on chemoenzymatic processes and can be divided into three parts: The first part of the thesis, chapters 2-4, is devoted to the development of combined ruthenium- and enzyme-catalyzed dynamic processes. In these processes the metal catalyst racemizes (epimerizes) the alcohol substrate via hydrogen transfer and the enzyme transforms the substrate into enantiomerically enriched product. Chapter 2 focuses on bicyclic diols, where a process was developed to provide the enantiomerically pure product diacetates in high yield. The diacetates were then hydrolyzed using various protocols to yield the corresponding enantio- and diastereoenriched diols. Two of the substrates were mono-oxidized to yield the enantioenriched hydroxyketones in high yield. One of the hydroxyketones was subsequently employed in the formal synthesis of Sertraline in a highly enantioselective manner. Chapter 3 deals with the application of dynamic kinetic resolution in the synthesis of a pesticide derivative, which is obtained in high yield and high enantiomeric excess. Chapter 4 describes the use of dynamic kinetic resolution to set the configuration of a non-activated stereocenter in primary alcohols by taking advantage of the intermediate aldehydes intrinsic enolization behavior. A wide range of primary alcohols with a stereogenic center in ?-position were dynamically resolved using this approach.The second part, chapters 5-6, deals with different types of enzyme engineering. In chapter 5, a lipase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa was mutated using directed evolution to increase the enantioselectivity of the lipase towards an allenic substrate. In chapter 6, a racemization catalyst was anchored to the active site of both cutinase and Candida Antarctica lipase.In the last part, chapter 7, an immobilized transition metal catalyst was used in transfer hydrogenation, a process which is closely related to the racemization of alcohols. The catalyst was used to reduce carbonyl compounds to the corresponding alcohols and was applicable to a wide range of substrates.