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Cover Feature: Easy Access to Enantiopure ( S )‐ and ( R )‐Aryl Alkyl Alcohols by a Combination of Gold(III)‐Catalyzed Alkyne Hydration and Enzymatic Reduction (ChemCatChem 5/2018)
Author(s) -
Schaaf Patricia,
Gojic Vladimir,
Bayer Thomas,
Rudroff Florian,
Schnürch Michael,
Mihovilovic Marko D.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
chemcatchem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.497
H-Index - 106
eISSN - 1867-3899
pISSN - 1867-3880
DOI - 10.1002/cctc.201800272
Subject(s) - enantiopure drug , chemistry , aryl , alcohol dehydrogenase , alkyl , enantiomer , catalysis , biocatalysis , combinatorial chemistry , alcohol , organic chemistry , enantioselective synthesis , reaction mechanism
The Cover Feature shows the combination of a gold‐catalyzed hydration and a biocatalytic reduction step leading to chiral aryl‐ethyl alcohols in excellent optical purity. In their Communication, P. Schaaf et al. demonstrate that this sequence can be conducted without intermediate work‐up and purification if the biocatalyst is added after completion of the hydration step. Because the metal catalyst is not removed, it is shown that gold is well‐tolerated by the enzyme. Additionally, using either ( S )‐ or ( R )‐selective alcohol dehydrogenase, both enantiomers of the alcohol product can be obtained in >99% ee . By providing also a preparative scale experiment the authors have put forward a highly attractive perspective regarding the production of enantiopure compounds.