Title:Hydrolases in Organic Chemistry. Recent Achievements in the Synthesis of Pharmaceuticals
VOLUME: 20 ISSUE: 11
Author(s):Daniel Méndez-Sánchez, María López-Iglesias and Vicente Gotor-Fernández
Affiliation:Departamento de Química Orgánica e Inorgánica, Instituto Universitario de Biotecnología de Asturias, Universidad dee Oviedo, 33006 Oviedo, Spain.
Keywords:Asymmetric synthesis, biotransformations, desymmetrization, hydrolases, kinetic resolutions, pharmaceuticals.
Abstract:Hydrolases are versatile enzymes for synthetic purposes as they are able to catalyze multiple transformations
in both aqueous medium and organic solvents. Their easiness of use and lack of cofactor dependency have attracted
the attention of many organic chemists, which have successfully applied this family of enzymes in hydrolytic
and reverse synthetic reactions. In this review, the authors have focused on the recent application of hydrolases
for the synthesis of active pharmaceutical ingredients and different families of compounds with exceptional
biological profiles. Thus, their action has been classified in non-selective and selective transformations including
regio- and stereoselective processes. Asymmetric transformations are presented as key issues for the production of
drug enantiomers, so examples of hydrolase-catalyzed kinetic resolutions, dynamic kinetic resolutions and desymmetrizations will be extensively
discussed, presenting hydrolases as very versatile enzymes for the development of scalable synthetic transformations towards
pharmaceuticals.
