Chemoenzymatic synthesis of optically active alcohol and β-amino-acid derivative containing the difluoromethylene group

The bioreduction of α,α-difluorinated ketones, ethyl 2,2-difluoro-3-oxobutanoate (2a) and 2,2-difluoro-1-phenyl-1,3-butanedione (2b), with cells of recombinant Escherichia coli overproducing SCR (Saccharomyces cerevisiae carbonyl reductase from bakers' yeast) and GDH (glucose dehydrogenase from Bacillus megaterium) gave enantiomerically pure alcohols, ethyl (S)-2,2-difluoro-3-hydroxybutanoate ((S)-1a) and (S)-2,2-difluoro-3-hydroxy-1- phenyl-1-butanone ((S)-1b), respectively, in the presence of NADP⁺ and glucose in buffer. The reductions of 2a and 2b proceeded completely at the substrate concentrations of 0.4 M (67 g/L) and 1.0 M (200 g/L), respectively. The opposite enantiomers (R)-1a and (R)-1b were also produced by enzyme E039 (a mixture of carbonyl reductase and formate dehydrogenase) contained in Chiralscreen OH (Daicel Chemical Industries) in the presence of NADH and sodium formate in buffer. Enantiomerically pure (S)-1a was converted by organic synthetic methods into an α,α-difluorinated derivative of (R)-β-aminobutyric acid (BABA) in three steps.