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Cyclic esters and amides (lactones and lactams) are important active ingredients and polymer building blocks. In recent years, numerous biocatalytic methods for their preparation have been developed including enzymatic and chemoenzymatic Baeyer-Villiger oxidations, oxidative lactonisation of diols, and reductive lactonisation and lactamisation of ketoesters. The current state of the art of these methods is reviewed., (© 2018 The Authors. Published by Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.)

A computational approach for the simulation and prediction of a linear three-step enzymatic cascade for the synthesis of ϵ-caprolactone (ECL) coupling an alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH), a cyclohexanone monooxygenase (CHMO), and a lipase for the subsequent hydrolysis of ECL to 6-hydroxyhexanoic acid (6-HHA). A kinetic model was developed with an accuracy of prediction for a fed-batch mode of 37% for substrate cyclohexanol (CHL), 90% for ECL, and >99% for the final product 6-HHA. Due to a severe inhibition of the CHMO by CHL, a batch synthesis was shown to be less efficient than a fed-batch approach. In the fed-batch synthesis, full conversion of 100 mM CHL was 28% faster with an analytical yield of 98% compared to 49% in case of the batch synthesis. The lipase-catalyzed hydrolysis of ECL to 6-HHA circumvents the inhibition of the CHMO by ECL enabling a 24% higher product concentration of 6-HHA compared to ECL in case of the fed-batch synthesis without lipase. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2017;114: 1215-1221. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., (© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Biodegradable polymers such as polylactides and other polylactones and their synthesis gain progressively importance. Enzymatic ring‐opening polymerization (eROP) is the next step sustainable synthesis of polyesters, also suitable for biomedical applications due to high selectivity and lack of toxic agents. The possibility for applying diverse reaction media ranging from traditional bulk and organic media to greener alternatives such as aqueous media, ionic liquids, and supercritical fluids may allow designing alternative non‐conventional processes with less environmental footprint. Target success criteria such as high molecular weight and uniformity of polymers, and conversion of monomers have to be carefully evaluated in these diverse media. Herein we discuss the influence of different reaction media and conditions such as water content, temperature and time on the polymer sizes achieved in eROPs and various approaches to improve the molecular weight and uniformity of polymers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyclic esters and amides (lactones and lactams) are important active ingredients and polymer building blocks. In recent years, numerous biocatalytic methods for their preparation have been developed including enzymatic and chemoenzymatic Baeyer–Villiger oxidations, oxidative lactonisation of diols, and reductive lactonisation and lactamisation of ketoesters. The current state of the art of these methods is reviewed. I want to ride my (bio)cycle: Lactones and lactams (cyclic esters and amides) are important synthons in various industries, especially as polymer building blocks. This review summarizes the current state of the art in (chemo)‐enzymatic routes to lactones and lactams, including Baeyer–Villiger oxidations, oxidative lactonisations of diols, and reductive cyclisations of ketoesters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH)-dependent redox-neutral convergent cascade composed of a recently discovered type II flavin-containing monooxygenase (FMO−E) and horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase (HLADH) has been established. Two model reaction cascades were analyzed for the synthesis of γ-butyrolactone and chiral bicyclic lactones. In the former cascade, all substrates were converted into one single product γ-butyrolactone with high atom efficiency. More than 130 mM γ-butyrolactone were obtained when applying 100 mM cyclobutanone and 50 mM 1,4-butanediol in this cascade. In the second cascade where bicyclo[4.2.0]octan-7-one and cis-1,2-cyclohexanedimethanol were coupled, the ketone substrate was converted to the corresponding normal lactone with an ee value of 89-74% (3a S, 7a S) by FMO−E alone and the abnormal lactone with an ee value of >99% (3a R, 7a S) was formed by both HLADH and FMO−E. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The laccase-mediator system (LMS) for the regeneration of oxidised nicotinamide co-factors was revisited to broaden the mediator scope. Among the 18 mediators screened, acetosyringone, syringaldehyde and caffeic acid excelled with respect to activity and stability under process conditions. The LMS based on the laccase from Myceliophthora thermophila and acetosyringone was further investigated and applied to promote the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+)-dependent oxidation of glucose as well as the oxidative lactonisation of 1,4-butanediol to the corresponding γ-butyrolactone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1,4-Butanediol is shown to be an efficient cosubstrate to promote NAD(P)H-dependent redox biocatalysis. The thermodynamically and kinetically inert lactone coproduct makes the regeneration reaction irreversible. Thereby not only the molar surplus of cosubstrate is dramatically reduced but also faster reaction rates are obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A two-step Design of Experiments (DoE) strategy followed by a two-liquid-phase system (2LPS) was applied to enhance the ɛ-caprolactone yield in the cyclohexanone monooxygenase (CHMO)-alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) convergent cascade system. The key reaction parameters were identified and optimized for the determination of an optimal operational window for the aqueous media. In the 2LPS system, high partitioning of the lactone product was observed in 2-MeTHF and in toluene; however, these solvents led to drastically reduced enzymatic activity. Dodecane was chosen as the non-miscible organic phase owing to the enzymes' high residual activity, despite the low partitioning of the lactone. Cyclohexanone concentrations up to 75 mM were applied in the aqueous media. The turnover numbers for the nicotinamide cofactor and for the ADH reached up to 980 and 392,000, respectively whereas a turnover number value of 5600 was achieved for the CHMO. By employing a 2LPS, whereby 91 mM of cyclohexanone was applied in the second phase, turnover numbers were slightly increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]