Highly Stereoselective Biocatalytic Synthesis of Key Cyclopropane Intermediate to Ticagrelor
Kari E Hernandez1, Hans Renata1, Russell D Lewis2
1Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 91125, United States.
Abstract:
Extending the scope of biocatalysis to important non-natural reactions such as olefin cyclopropanation will open new opportunities for replacing multi-step chemical syntheses of pharmaceutical intermediates with efficient, clean, and highly selective enzyme-catalyzed processes. In this work, we engineered the truncated globin of Bacillus subtilis for the synthesis of a cyclopropane precursor to the antithrombotic agent ticagrelor. The engineered enzyme catalyzes the cyclopropanation of 3,4-difluorostyrene with ethyl diazoacetate on a preparative scale to give ethyl-(1R, 2R)-2-(3,4-difluorophenyl)-cyclopropanecarboxylate in 79% yield, with very high diastereoselectivity (>99% dr) and enantioselectivity (98% ee), enabling a single-step biocatalytic route to this pharmaceutical intermediate.
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