African Journal of
Biotechnology

  • Abbreviation: Afr. J. Biotechnol.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1684-5315
  • DOI: 10.5897/AJB
  • Start Year: 2002
  • Published Articles: 12486

Full Length Research Paper

Asymmetric biosynthesis of (1S, 2S)-ephedrine by Morganella morganii CMCC(B)49208

Liang Zhang1, 2, Zhong-Yang Ding 2 and Gui-Yang Shi1, 2*
  1The Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China. 2Center for Bioresource and Bioenergy, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China.
Email: [email protected]

  •  Accepted: 23 January 2009
  •  Published: 28 February 2009

Abstract

 

(1S, 2S)-Ephedrine, one of the four ephedrine isomers, is a common pharmacological agent; however, it is difficult to synthesize in a stereospecific manner using traditional organic synthesis. In this paper, a novel enzymatic process was developed for the stereoselective synthesis of (1S, 2S)-ephedrine.Morganella morganii CMCC(B)49208 was found to asymmetrically reduce the prochiral carbonyl compound 1-phenyl-1-oxo-2-methylaminopropane (MAK) to optically pure (1S, 2S)-ephedrine which was measured with thin layer chromatography (TLC) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) technologies. In addition, a conversion process using air-dried M. morganiiCMCC(B)49208 cells was developed to produce (1S, 2S)-ephedrine at a final concentration of 0.852 gL-1 (>99% ee) and 84.4% molar yield.

 

Key words: Ephedrine, stereoselective reduction, Morganella morganii, bioconversion.

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This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0

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