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Updated: May 14, 2026

Enzymatic Cascade Reactions for the Synthesis of Chiral Amino Alcohols from L-lysine
Published on: February 16, 2018
Production of a chiral alcohol, 1-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl) ethanol, by mushroom tyrosinase
Sarah J Brooks1, Jasmina Nikodinovic, Leona Martin
1School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland. drsbrooks@gmail.com
Abstract:
1-(3,4-Dihydroxyphenyl) ethanol was produced biocatalytically for the first time using mushroom tyrosinase. 4-Ethylphenol at 1 mM was consumed over 12 min giving 0.23 mM 4-ethylcatechol and 0.36 mM (R/S)-1-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl) ethanol (ee 0.5 %). Mushroom tyrosinase consumed 4-ethylphenol at 6.7 μmol min(-1) mg protein(-1) while the rates of formation of 4-ethylcatechol and 1-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl) ethanol were 1.1 and 1.9 μmol min(-1) mg protein(-1). Addition of the ascorbic acid, as a reducing agent to biotransformation reactions, increased 4-ethylcatechol formation by 340 %. However, accumulation of 1-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl) ethanol was not observed in the presence of ascorbic acid. While the 1-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl) ethanol was racemic, it is the first chiral product produced by tyrosinase starting from a non-chiral substrate.
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