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Updated: Feb 13, 2026

Enzymatic Cascade Reactions for the Synthesis of Chiral Amino Alcohols from L-lysine
Published on: February 16, 2018
Alcohol Oxidase-Imine Reductase Cascade for One-Pot Chiral Amine Synthesis
Anya Miletic1, Christopher J Truby2, Nicholas J Turner1
1Department of Chemistry, University of Manchester, Manchester Institute of Biotechnology, 131 Princess Street, Manchester M1 7DN, U.K.
Abstract:
We report a one-pot biocatalytic cascade for the conversion of allylic alcohols into enantioenriched secondary amines through a sequence involving oxidation followed by conjugate reduction-reductive amination (CR-RA). This transformation, catalyzed by a cholesterol oxidase (ShCO) and an ene-imine reductase (EneIRED), proceeds under mild conditions and accommodates a broad substrate scope. In several cases, the cascade outperforms the stepwise method and exhibits substrate-dependent selectivity, highlighting the advantages of tandem enzymatic systems for efficient and streamlined chiral amine synthesis.
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