초록
<P>Enoate reductases belonging to the Old Yellow Enzyme (OYE) family were employed to develop a biocatalysed approach to methyl (<I>S</I>)-2-bromobutanoate, a key intermediate for the introduction of a particular stereogenic unit into the molecular skeleton of a certain class of chiral drugs. Methyl (<I>Z</I>)-2-bromocrotonate afforded, respectively, (<I>S</I>)-2-bromobutanoic acid (ee = 97%) and methyl (<I>S</I>)-2-bromobutanoate (ee = 97%) by baker’s yeast fermentation and by OYE1–3 biotransformations. The bioreductions of other methyl 2-haloalkenoates were also considered. It was observed that the (<I>Z</I>)- and (<I>E</I>)-diastereoisomers of α-bromo unsaturated esters afforded the same enantiomer of the corresponding reduced product.</P><P><B>Graphic Abstract</B><BR><IMG SRC='http://pubs.acs.org/appl/literatum/publisher/achs/journals/content/oprdfk/2012/oprdfk.2012.16.issue-2/op200086t/production/images/medium/op-2011-00086t_0001.gif'></P>