N-Alkylated-α-amino acids are useful building blocks for the pharmaceutical and fine chemical industries. Enantioselective methods of N-alkylated-α-amino acid synthesis are therefore highly valuable and widely investigated. While there are a variety of chemical methods for their synthesis, they often employ stoichiometric quantities of hazardous reagents such as pyrophoric metal hydrides or genotoxic alkylating agents, whereas biocatalytic routes can provide a greener and cleaner alternative to existing methods. This review highlights the occurrence of the N-alkyl-α-amino acid motif and its role in nature, important applications towards human health and biocatalytic methods of preparation. Several enzyme classes that can be used to access chiral N-alkylated-α-amino acids and their substrate selectivities are detailed.
CITATION STYLE
Hyslop, J. F., Lovelock, S. L., Watson, A. J. B., Sutton, P. W., & Roiban, G. D. (2019). N-Alkyl-α-amino acids in Nature and their biocatalytic preparation. Journal of Biotechnology, 293, 56–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiotec.2019.01.006
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