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Updated: Oct 18, 2025

Enzymatic Cascade Reactions for the Synthesis of Chiral Amino Alcohols from L-lysine
Published on: February 16, 2018
Recent advances in (chemo)enzymatic cascades for upgrading bio-based resources
Yi Zhou1, Shuke Wu1,2, Uwe T Bornscheuer2
1State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, No. 1 Shizishan Street, Wuhan 430070, P. R. China. shukewu@mail.hzau.edu.cn.
Chemoenzymatic cascades efficiently convert renewable biomass into valuable chemicals. This review highlights advances in green synthesis using bio-based resources for sugars, polymers, and chiral compounds.
Area of Science:
- Biotechnology
- Green Chemistry
- Synthetic Biology
Background:
- Chemoenzymatic cascades offer sustainable routes for complex molecule synthesis.
- Utilizing renewable bio-based resources is crucial for environmentally friendly chemical production.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review recent advances in chemoenzymatic cascade reactions.
- To focus on the use of renewable resources as starting materials.
- To discuss the synthesis of various high-value compounds from biomass.
Main Methods:
- Summarized in vitro and whole-cell cascade reactions.
- Focused on conversions of carbohydrates, lignin derivatives, plant oils, and amino acids.
- Analyzed efficiency metrics like space-time yields and E-factors.
Main Results:
- Demonstrated synthesis of rare sugars, biochemicals, polymer precursors, phenolics, and chiral compounds.
- Highlighted efficient cascade processes with high space-time yields and low E-factors.
- Showcased the transformation of abundant biomass into valuable chemicals.
Conclusions:
- Chemoenzymatic cascades are mature green chemistry processes.
- Further development is needed to improve existing and create new cascade systems.
- Bio-based feedstocks offer significant potential for sustainable chemical synthesis.
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