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Updated: Sep 23, 2026

Enzymatic Cascade Reactions for the Synthesis of Chiral Amino Alcohols from L-lysine
Published on: February 16, 2018
Ru-enabled dehydration-reductive amination of α-, β-hydroxy acids into amino acids
Shixiang Feng1,2, Jun Yi3,4, Huirong Yu1
1College of Materials Engineering, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China.
Abstract:
The direct transformation of biomass derived α-, β-hydroxy acids into amino acids is attractive but not reported. Here we disclose an atomically dispersed Ru catalyst that unlocks a previously unrecognized dehydration-reductive amination mechanism for the selective synthesis of amino acids from α-, β-hydroxy acids. Structural characterizations confirm the presence of isolated, partially oxidized Ru centers, which selectively mediates base-assisted α-H abstraction and β-OH elimination, while simultaneously enabling direct reductive amination of the resulting enol/enolate intermediates, bypassing the conventional α-keto acid pathway. The identified dehydration-reductive amination pathway and associate Ru-based catalyst opens opportunities for transforming a wide range of biomass-derived polyols containing adjacent hydroxyl groups into useful amino-functionalized products.
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