Abstract
A wide variety of commercially available lipases and microbial whole cells were tested for biotransformations of (±)-diethyl and dibenzyl hydroxyl(phenyl)methanephosphonates. Biocatalytic hydrolysis of acylated hydroxyphosphonates by whole cells of Bacillus subtilis gave optically active compounds with 95%ee S. Enantioselectivities obtained when using commercially available enzymatic preparations were less satisfactory, leading to both compounds with an enantiomeric excess in the range 15 35%. Screening lipases for their ability to acylate these phosphonates or to hydrolyze their acylated derivatives enabled selection of enzymes and organisms suitable for use in both processes.
Acknowledgement
This work was financed from Project “Biotransformations for pharmaceutical and cosmetics industry” No.POIG.01.03.01-00-158/09-03 part-financed by the European Union within the European Regional Development Fund for the Innovative Economy”.
Declaration of interest: The authors report no declarations of interest.