N-Alkyl-α-amino acids in Nature and their biocatalytic preparation
Abstract
N-alkylated-α-amino acids are useful building blocks for the pharmaceutical and fine chemical industries. Enantioselective methods of N-alkylated-α-amino acid synthesis are therefore highly valuable and widely investigated. While there are a variety of chemical methods for their synthesis, they often employ stoichiometric quantities of hazardous reagents such as pyrophoric metal hydrides or genotoxic alkylating agents, whereas biocatalytic routes can provide a greener and cleaner alternative to existing methods. This review highlights the occurrence of the N-alkyl-α-amino acid motif and its role in nature, important applications towards human health and biocatalytic methods of preparation. Several enzyme classes that can be used to access chiral N-alkylated-α-amino acids and their substrate selectivities are detailed.
Citation
Hyslop , J F , Lovelock , S L , Watson , A J B , Sutton , P W & Roiban , G-D 2019 , ' N -Alkyl-α-amino acids in Nature and their biocatalytic preparation ' , Journal of Biotechnology , vol. 293 , pp. 56-65 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiotec.2019.01.006
Publication
Journal of Biotechnology
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
0168-1656Type
Journal article
Description
PWS would like to acknowledge the European Union for his current funding: “This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 665919”.Collections
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