Issue 1, 2020

Efficient asymmetric synthesis of chiral alcohols using high 2-propanol tolerance alcohol dehydrogenase SmADH2 via an environmentally friendly TBCR system

Abstract

Alcohol dehydrogenases (ADHs) together with the economical substrate-coupled cofactor regeneration system play a pivotal role in the asymmetric synthesis of chiral alcohols; however, severe challenges concerning the poor tolerance of enzymes to 2-propanol and the adverse effects of the by-product, acetone, limit its applications, causing this strategy to lapse. Herein, a novel ADH gene smadh2 was identified from Stenotrophomonas maltophilia by traditional genome mining technology. The gene was cloned into Escherichia coli cells and then expressed to yield SmADH2. SmADH2 has a broad substrate spectrum and exhibits excellent tolerance and superb activity to 2-propanol even at 10.5 M (80%, v/v) concentration. Moreover, a new thermostatic bubble column reactor (TBCR) system is successfully designed to alleviate the inhibition of the by-product acetone by gas flow and continuously supplement 2-propanol. The organic waste can be simultaneously recovered for the purpose of green synthesis. In the sustainable system, structurally diverse chiral alcohols are synthesised at a high substrate loading (>150 g L−1) without adding external coenzymes. Among these, about 780 g L−1 (6 M) ethyl acetoacetate is completely converted into ethyl (R)-3-hydroxybutyrate in only 2.5 h with 99.9% ee and 7488 g L−1 d−1 space–time yield. Molecular dynamics simulation results shed light on the high catalytic activity toward the substrate. Therefore, the high 2-propanol tolerance SmADH2 with the TBCR system proves to be a potent biocatalytic strategy for the synthesis of chiral alcohols on an industrial scale.

Graphical abstract: Efficient asymmetric synthesis of chiral alcohols using high 2-propanol tolerance alcohol dehydrogenase SmADH2 via an environmentally friendly TBCR system

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
05 set 2019
Accepted
04 nov 2019
First published
05 nov 2019

Catal. Sci. Technol., 2020,10, 70-78

Efficient asymmetric synthesis of chiral alcohols using high 2-propanol tolerance alcohol dehydrogenase SmADH2 via an environmentally friendly TBCR system

Z. Yang, H. Fu, W. Ye, Y. Xie, Q. Liu, H. Wang and D. Wei, Catal. Sci. Technol., 2020, 10, 70 DOI: 10.1039/C9CY01794A

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