Org Process Res Dev. 2026 May 13;30(6):1495-1502. doi: 10.1021/acs.oprd.5c00457. eCollection 2026 Jun 19.

ABSTRACT

Chiral-substituted carbonyl compounds can be sustainably obtained via asymmetric alkene reduction catalyzed by ene-reductases from the Old Yellow Enzyme (OYE) family. Yet OYEs are seldom implemented in scale-up reactions due to low turnover numbers (TONs). Herein, we demonstrate multigram 150 g/L scale reactions with the thermostable OYE from Thermus scotoductus (0.2 wt %) for the asymmetric reduction of monoterpenes. Best results were achieved with (S)-carvone (7.5 g), affording a record TON of 123,000, with 90% isolated yield and >99% enantiomeric excess of (2R,5S)-dihydrocarvone, and an environmental E-factor of 11.6.

PMID:42344213 | PMC:PMC13288856 | DOI:10.1021/acs.oprd.5c00457