Chemoenzymatic Synthesis of Apremilast: A Study Using Ketoreductases and Lipases

The key step in the chemoenzymatic synthesis of apremilast was to produce the chiral alcohol (R)-1-(3-ethoxy-4-methoxyphenyl)-2-(methylsulfonyl)ethanol, (R)-3. Two enzymatic approaches were evaluated to obtain (R)-3, one using ketoreductases and the other lipases. Bioreduction of 1-(3-ethoxy-4-methoxyphenyl)-2-(methylsulfonyl)ethanone (2), using ketoreductase KRED-P2-D12, led to (R)-3 with 48% conversion and 93% enantiomeric excess (ee). Kinetic resolution of rac-1-(3-ethoxy-4-methoxyphenyl)-2-(methylsulfonyl)ethyl acetate (rac-4), via hydrolysis reaction, with 20% of n-butanol, catalyzed by lipase from Aspergillus niger yielded (R)-3 with > 99% ee, 50% conversion and E-value (enantiomeric ratio) > 200. The reaction between enantiomerically pure (R)-3 and 4-acetylamino-isoindol-1,3-dione (8) afforded apremilast in 65% yield and 67% ee.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Vega,Kimberly B., Cruz,Daniel M. V., Oliveira,Artur R. T., Silva,Marcos R. da, Lemos,Telma L. G. de, Oliveira,Maria C. F., Bernardo,Ricardo D. S., Sousa,Jackson R. de, Zanatta,Geancarlo, Nasário,Fábio D., Marsaioli,Anita J., Mattos,Marcos C. de
Format:	Digital revista
Language:	English
Published:	Sociedade Brasileira de Química 2021
Online Access:	http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0103-50532021000501100
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