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Updated: Feb 27, 2026

Enzymatic Cascade Reactions for the Synthesis of Chiral Amino Alcohols from L-lysine
Published on: February 16, 2018
Direct Alkylation of Amines with Primary and Secondary Alcohols through Biocatalytic Hydrogen Borrowing
Sarah L Montgomery1, Juan Mangas-Sanchez1, Matthew P Thompson1
1School of Chemistry, University of Manchester, Manchester Institute of Biotechnology, 131 Princess Street, Manchester, M1 7DN, UK.
Abstract:
The reductive aminase from Aspergillus oryzae (AspRedAm) was combined with a single alcohol dehydrogenase (either metagenomic ADH-150, an ADH from Sphingobium yanoikuyae (SyADH), or a variant of the ADH from Thermoanaerobacter ethanolicus (TeSADH W110A)) in a redox-neutral cascade for the biocatalytic alkylation of amines using primary and secondary alcohols. Aliphatic and aromatic secondary amines were obtained in up to 99 % conversion, as well as chiral amines directly from the racemic alcohol precursors in up to >97 % ee, releasing water as the only byproduct.
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