Production of alpha-oxyfunctionalized carbonyl compounds

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This patent describes novel enzymatic processes for producing alpha-oxyfunctionalized carbonyl compounds (such as optically pure α-hydroxy ketones and aldehydes). The invention utilizes specific enzymes (α-ketocarbonyl reductases) derived from the bacterium Gluconobacter oxydans, which can regio- and enantioselectively reduce α-ketocarbonyl compounds. These enzymes are used together with a cofactor regeneration system, allowing efficient, selective, and environmentally friendly synthesis of valuable chiral building blocks that are hard or impossible to make with traditional chemistry.

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• Industrial production of chiral intermediates for pharmaceuticals (e.g., in the synthesis of drugs with asymmetric carbon centers).
• Manufacturing of chiral fine chemicals and specialty chemicals for chemical industries.
• Biocatalytic synthesis of food additives and flavor compounds requiring specific chiral configurations.
• Environmentally friendly (green) chemistry processes that replace traditional multi-step chemical synthesis with a more sustainable, enzymatic approach.
• Academic and industrial research into asymmetric synthesis techniques and enzyme engineering.

BenefitsContent extracted from patent full text and abstract with AI.

• Highly selective production of optically pure (single-enantiomer) α-hydroxy carbonyl compounds, reducing the need for racemic mixture separation.
• Economical and efficient process, using inexpensive starting materials and requiring only catalytic amounts of cofactors due to regeneration systems.
• Reduces hazardous solvent use and energy consumption, supporting green chemistry principles.
• Enzymes can be produced from renewable natural sources (microorganisms) and engineered for improved performance.
• Opens access to synthesize chiral molecules and intermediates that are difficult or inefficient to create with classical organic chemistry.

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Inventors & Applicants

Patent Abstract

The invention relates to a process for preparing of ±-oxyfunctionalized carbonyl compounds from ±-ketocarbonyl compounds via enzymatic reduction and suitable enzymes for said reaction.