Direct Reductive Amination of Biobased Furans to N-Substituted Furfurylamines by Engineered Reductive Aminase

Article abstract of DOI:10.1002/adsc.202001495

Furfurylamines are important building blocks for the synthesis of many pharmacologically active compounds and polymers. In this work, direct reductive amination of biobased furans to N-substituted furfurylamines by reductive aminase from Aspergillus oryzae (AspRedAm) was reported. Besides the reductive aminase activity, AspRedAm also showed a promiscuous, yet low alcohol dehydrogenase activity. The variant W210F proved to be a good catalyst for the synthesis of N-substituted furfurylamines. Furans were transformed to the target products with the conversions up to >99% and selectivities up to >99%. In addition, N-substituted furfurylamines were synthesized in the total turnover number (TTN) up to 3200 on a preparative scale, indicating the applicability of this biocatalytic route in synthetic chemistry. (Figure presented.).