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Updated: Oct 23, 2025

Enzymatic Cascade Reactions for the Synthesis of Chiral Amino Alcohols from L-lysine
Published on: February 16, 2018
Regiodivergent and stereoselective hydroxyazidation of alkenes by biocatalytic cascades
Jing-Fei Wu1,2, Nan-Wei Wan1,2, Ying-Na Li1,2
1Key Laboratory of Biocatalysis & Chiral Drug Synthesis of Guizhou Province, Generic Drug Research Center of Guizhou Province, Green Pharmaceuticals Engineering Research Center of Guizhou Province, School of Pharmacy, Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi, 563000, China.
Abstract:
Asymmetric functionalization of alkenes allows the direct synthesis of a wide range of chiral compounds. Vicinal hydroxyazidation of alkenes provides a desirable path to 1,2-azidoalcohols; however, existing methods are limited by the control of stereoselectivity and regioselectivity. Herein, we describe a dual-enzyme cascade strategy for regiodivergent and stereoselective hydroxyazidation of alkenes, affording various enantiomerically pure 1,2-azidoalcohols. The biocatalytic cascade process is designed by combining styrene monooxygenase-catalyzed asymmetric epoxidation of alkenes and halohydrin dehalogenase-catalyzed regioselective ring opening of epoxides with azide. Additionally, a one-pot chemo-enzymatic route to chiral β-hydroxytriazoles from alkenes is developed via combining the biocatalytic cascades and Cu-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition.
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