Recombinant benzaldehyde lyase (BAL), expressed and purified from E. coli strain JM-109, was used to catalyze the condensation of a series of methoxybenzaldehydes and phenylacetaldehyde in the synthesis of a-(R)-hydroxydihydrochalcones. Enantiomerically pure 1-hydroxy-1,3-diphenylpropan-2-ones and o-anisoin were also obtained as products of the BAL reaction. The R absolute configurations of chiral centers were determined by CD spectroscopy. a-(R)-Hydroxydihydrochalcones and 1-hydroxy-1,3-diphenylpropan-2-ones are valuable synthons for chemoenzymatic syntheses of flavonoids. This is the first synthesis of a-(R)-hydroxydihydrochalcones by a microbial enzyme.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.