| Summary: | The active pharmaceutical ingredient levetiracetam has anticonvulsant properties and is used to treat epilepsies. Herein, we describe the enantioselective preparation of the levetiracetam precursor 2-(pyrrolidine-1-yl)butanamide by enzymatic dynamic kinetic resolution with a nitrile hydratase enzyme. A rare representative of the family of iron-dependent nitrile hydratases from <i>Gordonia hydrophobica</i> (<i>Gh</i>NHase) was evaluated for its potential to form 2-(pyrrolidine-1-yl)butanamide in enantioenriched form from the three small, simple molecules, namely, propanal, pyrrolidine and cyanide. The yield and the enantiomeric excess (<i>ee</i>) of the product are determined most significantly by the substrate concentrations, the reaction pH and the biocatalyst amount. <i>Gh</i>NHase is also active for the hydration of other nitriles, in particular for the formation of <i>N</i>-heterocyclic amides such as nicotinamide, and may therefore be a tool for the preparation of various APIs.
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