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The definite interest in implementing sustainable industrial technologies has impelled the use of biocatalysts (enzymes or cells), leading to high chemo-, regio- and stereoselectivities under mild conditions. As usual substrates are not soluble in water, the employ of organic solvents is mandatory. We will focus on different attempts to combine the valuable properties of green solvents with the advantages of using biocatalysts for developing cleaner synthetic processes.

The synthesis of some noncommercial racemic 1,2-diaryl-2-hydroxyethanones (benzoins) is described, optimizing the previously reported methodologies. In a further step, the kinetic resolution of these substrates is reported, obtaining conversions of around 50% and ee(p) higher than 99% in very short reaction times. As enzymatic catalyst, after screening of several enzymes, the lipase TL (from Pseudomonas stutzeri) was the most efficient, working in an organic solvent with a very low log P value, such as THF. Finally, the dynamic-kinetic resolution of different benzoins using a lipase-ruthenium-catalyzed transesterification in organic solvents is described for the first time, obtaining conversions up to 90% maintaining the excellent enantioselectivity in all cases.

A novel type II nucleoside 2-deoxyribosyltransferase from Lactobacillus reuteri (LrNDT) has been cloned and overexpressed in Escherichia coli. The recombinant LrNDT has been structural and functionally characterized. Sedimentation equilibrium analysis revealed a homohexameric molecule of 114 kDa. Circular dichroism studies have showed a secondary structure containing 55% ␣-helix, 10% ␤-strand, 16% ␤-sheet, and 19% random coil. LrNDT was thermostable with a melting temperature (T m ) of 64°C determined by fluorescence, circular dichroism, and differential scanning calorimetric studies. The enzyme showed high activity in a broad pH range (4.6 to 7.9) and was also very stable between pH 4 and 7.9. The optimal temperature for activity was 40°C. The recombinant LrNDT was able to synthesize natural and nonnatural nucleoside analogues, improving activities described in the literature, and remarkably, exhibited unexpected new arabinosyltransferase activity, which had not been described so far in this kind of enzyme. Furthermore, synthesis of new arabinonucleosides and 2-fluorodeoxyribonucleosides was carried out.Nucleoside 2Ј-deoxyribosyltransferases (NDTs) (EC 2.4.2.6) catalyze the exchange between the purine or pyrimidine base of 2Ј-deoxyribonucleosides and free pyrimidine or purine bases (10, 25). These enzymes are specific for 2Ј-deoxyribonucleosides, regioselective (N-1 glycosylation in pyrimidine and N-9 in purine), and stereoselective (␤-anomers are exclusively formed) (26) (Fig. 1).Deoxyribosyltransferases are classified into two classes depending on their substrate specificity: type I (NDT I), specific for purines (Pur 7 Pur), and type II (NDT II), which catalyzes the transfer between purines and/or pyrimidines (Pur 7 Pur, Pur 7 Pyr, Pyr 7 Pyr) (10, 25). These enzymes were initially described for lactobacilli (27,28), and they are involved in the nucleoside salvage pathway for DNA synthesis (23), although this remains unclear in Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis (36). NDTs have been also found in some species of Streptococcus (11), in parasitic unicellular eukaryotic organisms such as Crithidia luciliae (49, 50), in Trypanosoma brucei (6), and in Borrelia burgdorferi (33). NDTs from Lactobacillus helveticus and Lactobacillus leichmannii have been well studied (2,25,26,28,29), and their kinetic mechanisms as well as their catalytic and substrate binding sites have been characterized. The transferase reaction proceeds via a ping-pong bi-bi mechanism by formation of a covalent deoxyribosyl enzyme intermediate (3,15,16). Likewise, a glutamyl residue (Glu98) has been proven essential for activity (40,41,46). Enzymatic natural and nonnatural nucleoside synthesis in a one-pot reaction by NDTs provides an interesting alternative to traditional multistep chemical methods (13,34). Indeed, chemical glycosylation includes several protection-deprotection steps and the use of chemical reagents and organic solvents that are expensive and environmentally harmful. Whereas previously described NDTs accept different nucleosides fr...

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b Cells extracts from Thermus thermophilus HB27 express phosphorolytic activities on purines and pyrimidine nucleosides. Five putative encoding genes were cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli, and the corresponding recombinant proteins were purified and studied. Two of these showed phosphorolytic activities against purine nucleosides, and third one showed phosphorolytic activity against pyrimidine nucleosides in vitro, and the three were named TtPNPI, TtPNPII, and TtPyNP, respectively. The optimal temperature for the activity of the three enzymes was beyond the water boiling point and could not be measured accurately, whereas all of them exhibited a wide plateau of optimal pHs that ranged from 5.0 to 7.0. Analytical ultracentrifugation experiments revealed that TtPNPI was a homohexamer, TtPNPII was a monomer, and TtPyNP was a homodimer. Kinetic constants were determined for the phosphorolysis of the natural substrates of each enzyme. Reaction tests with nucleoside analogues revealed critical positions in the nucleoside for its recognition. Activities with synthetic nucleobase analogues, such as 5-iodouracil or 2,6-diaminopurine, and arabinosides were detected, supporting that these enzymes could be applied for the synthesis of new nucleoside analogs with pharmacological activities.