Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 8, 2026

Enzymatic Cascade Reactions for the Synthesis of Chiral Amino Alcohols from L-lysine
Published on: February 16, 2018
Catalytic Stereoinversion of L-Alanine to Deuterated D-Alanine
Kimia Moozeh1, Soon Mog So1, Jik Chin2
1Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, 80 St George Street, Toronto, ON, M5S 3H6 (Canada) http://www.diaminopharm.com.
Abstract:
A combination of an achiral pyridoxal analogue and a chiral base has been developed for catalytic deuteration of L-alanine with inversion of stereochemistry to give deuterated D-alanine under mild conditions (neutral pD and 25 °C) without the use of any protecting groups. This system can also be used for catalytic deuteration of D-alanine with retention of stereochemistry to give deuterated D-alanine. Thus a racemic mixture of alanine can be catalytically deuterated to give an enantiomeric excess of deuterated D-alanine. While catalytic deracemization of alanine is forbidden by the second law of thermodynamics, this system can be used for catalytic deracemization of alanine with deuteration. Such green and biomimetic approach to catalytic stereocontrol provides insights into efficient amino acid transformations.
Related Concept Videos
α-Alkylation of Ketones via Enolate Ions
Reduction of Alkenes: Asymmetric Catalytic Hydrogenation
The metal catalyst used can be either heterogeneous or homogeneous. When hydrogenation of an alkene generates a chiral center, a pair of enantiomeric products is expected to form. However, an enantiomeric excess of one of the products can be facilitated using an enantioselective reaction or an...
SN1 Reaction: Stereochemistry
In the first step of an SN1 reaction, the bond between the electrophilic carbon and the leaving group ionizes to generate the carbocation intermediate. The second step of the mechanism is the nucleophilic attack.
In the formed carbocation, the positively charged carbon is sp2 hybridized with a trigonal planar geometry. As all the three substituents lie on the same plane, a plane of symmetry for the...
Alkylation of β-Diester Enolates: Malonic Ester Synthesis
SN2 Reaction: Stereochemistry
If the substrate is an achiral molecule at the α-carbon, the inversion of configuration is not...
Regioselectivity and Stereochemistry of Acid-Catalyzed Hydration

