Efficient asymmetric synthesis of 1-cyano-tetrahydroisoquinolines from lipase dual activity and opposite enantioselectivities in α-aminonitrile resolution

Abstract

Dual promiscuous racemization/amidation activities of lipases leading to efficient dynamic kinetic resolution protocols of racemic α-aminonitrile compounds are described. α-Amidonitrile products of high enantiomeric purity could be formed in high yields. Several lipases from different sources were shown to exhibit the dual catalytic activities, where opposite enantioselectivities could be recorded for certain substrates. Dynamic chemistry: Dual promiscuous racemization/amidation activities of lipases leading to efficient dynamic kinetic resolution protocols of racemic α-aminonitrile compounds are described. α-Amidonitrile products of high enantiomeric purity could be formed in high yields. Several lipases from different sources were shown to exhibit the dual catalytic activities, in which opposite enantioselectivities could be recorded for certain substrates (see scheme). © 2014 The Authors. Published by Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA. This is an open access article under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.