Methyl aziridine-2-carboxylate

The resolution of methyl (+/-)-3-hydroxypentanoate catalysed by Candida antarctica lipase B has been performed by using ammonia and benzyl amine as nucleophiles. In all cases, the lipase reacts faster with the R enantiomer of the ester, but when benzyl amine is used, the enantiomeric ratio is approximately three times as high as that measured for ammonia. The analysis of the molecular dynamics simulations carried out over the corresponding deacylation transition state analogues indicated specular binding modes between enantiomers that vary greatly upon the nucleophile used. For the case of ammonia, an intramolecular hydrogen bond between the beta-hydroxyl group and the protons of the nucleophile is established. However, the presence of the substituent in benzyl amine disrupts this interaction. Instead, the acyl chain binds to a more restrictive area of the protein where the higher number of contacts established with the side chains of Thr40, Gln157 and Ile189 have been identified as the reason for the higher enantioselectivity observed in the aminolysis reaction.

All possible isomers of 1,2,3-tri(N-tert-butoxycarbonylamino)propylphosphonate 6 were synthesized from the respective diethyl [N-(1-phenylethyl)]-1-benzylamino-2,3-epiiminopropylphosphonates 5 via opening the aziridine ring with trimethylsilyl azide (TMSN3) followed by hydrogenolysis in the presence of di-tert-butyl dicarbonate (Boc2O). [N-(1-phenylethyl)]-1-benzylamino-2,3-epiiminopropylphosphonates (1R,2R,1'S)-5a and (1S,2S,1'R)-5c were smoothly transformed into diethyl 3-acetoxy-1-benzylamino-2-[N-(1-phenylethyl)amino]propylphosphonates (1R,2R,1'S)-9a and (1S,2S,1'R)-9c, respectively by the opening of the aziridine ring with acetic acid. Transformations of [N-(1-phenylethyl)]-1-benzylamino-2,3-epiiminopropylphosphonates (1S,2R,1'S)-5b and (1R,2S,1'R)-5d into diethyl 3-acetoxy-1-benzylamino-2-[(1-phenylethyl)amino]propylphosphonates (1S,2R,1'S)-9b and (1R,2S,1'R)-9d were accompanied by the formation of ethyl {1-(N-benzylacetamido)-3-hydroxy-2-[(1-phenylethyl)amino]propyl}phosphonate (1S,2R,1'S)-10b and (1R,2S,1'R)-10d and 3-(N-benzylacetamido)-4-[N-(1-phenylethyl)]amino-1,2-oxaphospholane (3S,4R,1'S)-11b and (3R,4S,1'R)-11d as side products. Diethyl (1R,2R)-, (1S,2S)-, (1S,2R)- and (1R,2S)-3-acetoxy-1,2-di(N-tert-butoxycarbonylamino)propylphosphonates 7a-7d were obtained from the respective 3-acetoxy-1-benzylamino-2-[N-(1-phenylethyl)amino]propylphosphonates 9a-9d by hydrogenolysis in the presence of Boc2O.

The size of the stereoselectivity pocket of Candida antarctica lipase B limits the range of alcohols that can be resolved with this enzyme. These steric constrains have been changed by increasing the size of the pocket by the mutation W104A. The mutated enzyme has good activity and enantioselectivity toward bulky secondary alcohols, such as 1-phenylalkanols, with alkyl chains up to eight carbon atoms. The S enantiomer was preferred in contrast to the wild-type enzyme, which has R selectivity. The magnitude of the enantioselectivity changes in an interesting way with the chain length of the alkyl moiety. It is governed by interplay between entropic and enthalpic contributions and substrates with long alkyl chains are resolved best with E values higher than 100. The enantioselectivity increases with temperature for the small substrates, but decreases for the long ones.