COMMUNICATIONS
These results demonstrate that both aldol enantiomers could
be accessed through aldol or retro-aldol reactions using the
same antibody 84G3. In order to assign the absolute config-
urations, the enantiopure products were synthesized by
independent chemical asymmetric synthesis for compounds
9, 11, and 13.[9] The absolute configuration of compound 7 was
assigned by analogy with compound 9.
In conclusion, we described here the first aldolase antibody,
ab84G3, capable of rerouting the regioselectivity of a series of
cross aldol reactions which led to the formation of the
otherwise disfavored products. This new reactivity highlights
the scope of the reactive immunization strategy developed by
the groups of Lerner and Barbas for catalyst design. This work
further increases the repertoire and efficiency of antibody-
catalysed aldol reactions. Further studies on the reactivity of
ab84G3 are currently in progress.
Biocatalytic Asymmetric Hydrogen Transfer**
Wolfgang Stampfer, Birgit Kosjek, Christian Moitzi,
Wolfgang Kroutil,* and Kurt Faber
Driven by the increased public awareness on hazards
derived from chemical production, environmentally benign
oxidation methods have gained increasing importance.[1] In
this context, the reduction of ketones at the expense of a
sacrificial secondary alcohol and the corresponding reverse
reaction (known since the 1920s as the Meerwein Ponn-
dorf Verley reduction (MPVRed) and Oppenauer-oxidation
(OOx), respectively, constitute typical ™green∫ redox reac-
tions.[2] As a consequence, they have been re-investigated
recently[3] to replace the previously employed metal alkoxides
with catalysts showing improved efficiency,[3c] better recover-
ability,[3g] avoiding aldol condensation as side reaction,[3f] and
water-soluble analogues.[3b] Asymmetric variants have been
pursued by using enantioselective hydride-transfer methods
based on chiral transition metal complexes[3e] or chiral hydride
sources.[3a]
All biocatalytic methods for the asymmetric hydrogen
transfer are based on alcohol dehydrogenases requiring
nicotinamide cofactors. They have several advantages over
the chemical methods, such as 1) their intrinsic asymmetry,
2) absence of side reactions, such as aldol condensation, and
3) they operate under essentially mild reaction conditions.
However, their large-scale application has been impeded by
the requirement for cofactor-recycling.[4] Since the sacrificial
secondary alcohol used as cosubstrate (for MPVRed) or the
carbonyl compound (for OOx) has to be employed in excess
to drive the reaction from equilibrium towards completion,
cosubstrate inhibition is common in such a ™coupled-sub-
strate∫ approach based on the use of a single enzyme.[5]
Although this drawback has been surmounted to some extent
by using a second dehydrogenase, which is highly specific for
the sacrificial cosubstrate,[6] these so-called ™coupled-en-
zyme∫ methods are rather complex and require the handling
of isolated enzymes and cofactor(s). As a consequence,
biochemical MPVReds and OOxs on a large scale are limited
by the use of fermenting cells[7] and/or low (co)substrate
concentration(s).[8]
Received: October 24, 2001 [Z18117]
[1] General reviews on the catalytic enantioselective aldol reaction:
a) E. M. Carreira in Comprehensive Asymmetric Catalysis, Vol. 3
(Eds.: E. N. Jacobsen, A. Pfaltz, H. Yamamoto), Springer, Heidelberg,
1999, chap. 29-1; b) S. G. Nelson, Tetrahedron:Asymmetry 1998, 9, 357;
H. Grˆger, E. M. Vogl, M. Shibasaki, Chem. Eur. J. 1998, 4, 1137; T. D.
Machajewski, C.-H. Wong, Angew. Chem. 2000, 112, 1406; Angew.
Chem. Int. Ed. 2000, 39, 1352.
[2] a) H. J. M. Gijsen, L. Qiao, W. Fitz, C.-H. Wong, Chem. Rev. 1996, 96,
443; b) B. List, R. A. Lerner, C. F. Barbas III, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2000,
122, 2395; H. Grˆger, J. Wilken, Angew. Chem. 2001, 113, 545; Angew.
Chem. Int. Ed. 2001, 40, 529; c) K. Sakthivel, W. Notz, T. Bui, C. F.
Barbas III, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2001, 123, 5260.
[3] a) J. Wagner, R. A. Lerner, C. F. Barbas III, Science 1995, 270, 1797;
b) R. Bjˆrnestedt, G. Zhong, R. A. Lerner, C. F. Barbas III, J. Am.
Chem. Soc. 1996, 118, 11720; c) G. Zhong, T. Hoffmann, R. A. Lerner,
S. Danishefsky, C. F. Barbas III, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1997, 119, 8131;
d) C. F. Barbas III, A. Heine, G. Zhong, T. Hoffmann, S. Gramatikova,
R. Bjˆrnestedt, B. List, J. Anderson, E. A. Stura, I. A. Wilson, R. A.
Lerner, Science 1997, 278, 2085; e) T. Hoffmann, G. Zhong, B. List, D.
Shabat, J. Anderson, S. Gramatikova, R. A. Lerner, C. F. Barbas III, J.
Am. Chem. Soc. 1998, 120, 2768; f) G. Zhong, D. Shabat, B. List, J.
Anderson, S. C. Sinha, R. A. Lerner, C. F. Barbas III, Angew. Chem.
1998, 110, 2609; Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 1998, 37, 2481; g) B. List, D.
Shabat, G. Zhong, J. M. Turner, A. Li, T. Bui, J. Anderson, R. A.
Lerner, C. F. Barbas III, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1999, 121, 7283.
[4] a) G. Zhong, R. A. Lerner, C. F. Barbas III, Angew. Chem. 1999, 111,
3957; Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 1999, 38, 3738; for synthetic applications
using ab84G3, see: b) S. C. Sinha, J. Sun, G. P. Miller, M. Wartmann,
R. A. Lerner, Chem. Eur. J. 2001, 7, 1691; c) S. C. Sinha, J. Sun, G. P.
Miller, C. F. Barbas III, R. A. Lerner, Org. Lett. 1999, 10, 1623.
[5] For the regioselectivity of the aldol condensations of 2-butanone and
2-pentanone in the presence of ab38C2, see ref. [3a].
We have recently isolated a highly enantioselective secon-
dary-alcohol dehydrogenase[9] from Rhodococcus ruber
DSM 44541, which is exceptionally stable towards organic
solvents. The activity of the enzyme remains high at concen-
trations of up to 20% (v/v) acetone and 50% (v/v) 2-propanol.
This activity enables the use of the enzyme for MVRed and
OOx in the ™coupled-substrate∫ approach. For preparative-
[6] For aldol condensations with a-hydroxyacetone in the presence of
ab38C2, see for example ref. [3e] and: B. List, D. Shabat, C. F.
Barbas III, R. A. Lerner, Chem. Eur. J. 1998, 4, 881; D. Shabat, B.
List, R. A. Lerner, C. F. Barbas III, Tetrahedron Lett. 1999, 40, 1437.
[7] Tetrahydrothiophen-3-one has been reported to be a donor substrate
for ab38C2 (see ref. [3e]) but there is no discussion regarding
regioselectivity.
[8] a) J. Uenishi, H. Tomozane, M. Yamato, Tetrahedron Lett. 1985, 29,
3467; b) J. Uenishi, H. Tomozane, M. Yamato, J. Chem. Soc. Chem.
Commun. 1985, 717.
[*] Dipl.-Ing. Dr. W. Kroutil, Dipl.-Ing. W. Stampfer, Mag. B. Kosjek,
C. Moitzi, Prof. Dr. K. Faber
Department of Chemistry, Organic and Bioorganic Chemistry
University of Graz
Heinrichstrasse 28, 8010 Graz (Austria)
Fax : (43)316-380-9840
[9] V. Maggiotti, J. B. Wong, R. Razet, A. R. Cowley, V. Gouverneur,
unpublished results.
[**] This study was performed within the Spezialforschungsbereich ™Bio-
katalyse∫, and financial support by the Fonds zur Fˆrderung der
wissenschaftlichen Forschung (Vienna, project No. F115) and the
Federal Ministry of Science (Vienna) is gratefully acknowledged.
1014
¹ WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2002
1433-7851/02/4106-1014 $ 17.50+.50/0
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2002, 41, No. 6