The acyl transferase from Mycobacterium smegmatis (MsAcT) catalyses transesterification reactions in aqueous media because of its hydrophobic active site. Aliphatic cyanohydrin and alkyne esters can be synthesised in water with excellent and strikingly opposite enantioselectivity [(R);E>37 and (S);E>100, respectively]. When using this enzyme, the undesired hydrolysis of the acyl donor is an important factor to take into account. Finally, the choice of acyl donor can significantly influence the obtained enantiomeric excesses.magnified image

The enzymatic synthesis of esters and peptides is unfavoured in aqueous solvent systems due to competing hydrolysis. This can be overcome by using energy rich substrate analogues: elimination of a good leaving group temporarily establishes more favourable equilibrium conditions, allowing for (nearly) complete conversion. While kinetically controlled syntheses of esters and peptides in water are common knowledge in biocatalysis textbooks, the prevalence of kinetic control is less well known for other enzyme classes. Here, the general concepts of thermodynamic and kinetic control are illustrated at the example of the well‐studied synthesis of β‐lactam antibiotics and are shown to similarly also apply to other enzyme classes. Notably, the enzymatic synthesis of diastereomers shows the same characteristic energy profile as that of Diels‐Alder reactions. This allows for the selective synthesis of different diastereomers under either thermodynamically or kinetically controlled conditions. Prospects and pitfalls of this notion are discussed at the example of the thermodynamic epimerisation of hydroxysteroids and recent examples of kinetically controlled aldol reactions. Kinetic reaction control can therefore not only be used to increase conversions towards a single product, but also to selectively afford different diastereomers. This review highlights the prevalence of both concepts within the field of biocatalysis.

Enzymes are nature's catalyst of choice for the highly selective and efficient coupling of carbohydrates. Enzymatic sugar coupling is a competitive technology for industrial glycosylation reactions, since chemical synthetic routes require extensive use of laborious protection group manipulations and often lack regio-and stereoselectivity. The application of Leloir glycosyltransferases has received considerable attention in recent years and offers excellent control over the reactivity and selectivity of glycosylation reactions with unprotected carbohydrates, paving the way for previously inaccessible synthetic routes. The development of nucleotide recycling cascades has allowed for the efficient production and reuse of nucleotide sugar donors in robust one-pot multi-enzyme glycosylation cascades. In this way, large glycans and glycoconjugates with complex stereochemistry can be constructed. With recent advances, LeLoir glycosyltransferases are close to being applied industrially in multi-enzyme, programmable cascade glycosylations.hydroxynitrile lyases catalyzed the enzymatic hydrolysis of the glycoside amygdalin [3]. Moving almost two centuries forward, the largest volumetric biocatalytic industrial process is the application of glucose isomerase for the production of high fructose syrup for food and drink applications, producing fructose from glucose at 10 7 tons per year [4]. The secret of the success of enzymes in the production or treatment of carbohydrates and glycosides is their exquisite stereo-and regioselectivity. The excellent selectivity of enzymes is required due to the diversity of structural features of carbohydrates [5], comprising d-and l-epimers, ring size, anomeric configuration, linkages, branching, and oxidation state(s). Since drug targets often exhibit specificity for all of these structural features, the production process should not contain any side-products to prevent undesired side-effects [6].The challenge in the synthesis of carbohydrates is their wide variety of functionalities and stereochemistry ( Figure 1). (Poly)hydroxyaldehydes containing a terminal aldehyde are referred to as aldoses and (poly)hydroxyketones are defined as ketoses. In aqueous solutions, monosaccharides form equilibrium mixtures of linear open-chain and ring-closed 5-or 6-membered furanoses or pyranoses, respectively. For aldoses, the asymmetric ring forms at C-1. For ketoses, it closes at C-2 as an axial (α) or equatorial (β) hemiacetal or hemiketal, respectively (commonly defined as the anomeric center). A glycosidic linkage is a covalent O-, S-, N-, or C-bond connecting a monosaccharide to another residue resulting in a glycoside, while glucoside is specific for a glucose moiety. The equatorial or axial position of the glycosidic bond is referred to as α-(axial) or β-linkage (equatorial). The number of carbohydrates linked via glycosidic bonds can be subdivided into oligosaccharides with two to ten linked carbohydrates, while polysaccharides (glycans) contain more than ten glycosidic bonds. A glycan either con...

MsAcT catalyzes the esterification of primary alcohols in water. When utilizing acid and alcohol as starting materials low yields dictated by thermodynamics were observed. However, with activated esters such as ethyl acetate and vinyl acetate very high yields of the desired ester can be achieved in combination with the appropriate alcohol. This study investigated both the intrinsic kinetic properties of MsAcT for the hydrolysis and transesterification of esters in water as well as the thermodynamics of the reaction. In comparison to the chemical or enzymatic ester synthesis using either toxic reagent, and harsh organic solvents, the MsAcT‐catalyzed synthesis of esters of primary alcohols can be achieved efficiently in water without neutralization steps.

The class II hydroxy ketoacid aldolase A5VH82 from Sphingomonas wittichii RW1 (SwHKA) accepts hydroxypyruvate as nucleophilic donor substrate, giving access to synthetically challenging 3,4dihydroxy-α-ketoacids. The crystal structure of holo-SwHKA in complex with hydroxypyruvate revealed CH-π interactions between the CÀ H bonds at C3 of hydroxypyruvate and a phenylalanine residue at position 210, which in this case occupies the position of a conserved leucine residue. Mutagenesis to tyrosine further increased the electron density of the interacting aromatic system and effected a rate enhancement by twofold. While the leucine variant efficiently catalyses the enolisation of hydroxypyruvate as the first step in the aldol reaction, the enol intermediate then becomes trapped in a disfavoured configuration that considerably hinders subsequent CÀ C bond formation. In SwHKA, micromolar concentrations of inorganic phosphate increase the catalytic rate constant of enolisation by two orders of magnitude. This rate enhancement was now shown to be functionally conserved across the structurally distinct (α/β) 8 barrel and αββα sandwich folds of two pyruvate aldolases. Characterisation of the manganese (II) cofactor by electron paramagnetic resonance excluded ionic interactions between the metal centre and phosphate. Instead, histidine 44 was shown to be primarily responsible for the binding of phosphate in the micromolar range and the observed rate enhancement in SwHKA.