Towards practical biocatalytic Baeyer- Villiger reactions: applying a thermostable enzyme in the gram- scale synthesis of optically- active lactones in a two-liquid- phase system

• Frank Schulz,
• François Leca,
• Frank Hollmann and
• Manfred T. Reetz

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2005, 1, No. 10, doi:10.1186/1860-5397-1-10

• catalysis (Table 1). We were pleased to observe essentially identical enantioselectivities when applying in vitro catalysis (for ketone 1 compare Table 1; the kinetic resolution of ketone 6 is characterized by a selectivity factor of E = 100, the enantiopurity of lactone 7 being 95.4% ee (R)). Ketone 1

• substrate in cyclohexane. The kinetic resolution reached the optimal 50% conversion after about 24 h. Upscaling to gram-quantities was straight-forward without changes in the procedure. Overall we obtained turnover numbers (TONs) of more than 30000 for the P3-PAMO-catalyzed BV-oxidation of ketone 1, which

Mixtures of monodentate P-ligands as a means to control the diastereoselectivity in Rh-catalyzed hydrogenation of chiral alkenes

• Manfred T. Reetz and
• Hongchao Guo

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2005, 1, No. 3, doi:10.1186/1860-5397-1-3

• described earlier.[34] Since the substrates 1 and 5 were used as racemates, kinetic resolution may be involved when the chiral ligands are employed, i.e., diastereoselectivity may change with conversion. This aspect was not a subject of the present study. In all hydrogenation reactions the standard