DOI: 10.1002/ange.202408686 ISSN: 0044-8249

An Engineered Imine Reductase for Highly Diastereo‐ and Enantioselective Synthesis of β‐Branched Amines with Contiguous Stereocenters

Zhen-Yu Zhu, Min Shi, Chen-Lin Li, Yun-Fei Gao, Xin-Yuan Shen, Xu-Wei Ding, Fei-Fei Chen, Jian-He Xu, Qi Chen, Gao-Wei Zheng

β‐Branched chiral amines with contiguous stereocenters are valuable building blocks for preparing various biologically active molecules. However, their asymmetric synthesis remains challenging. Herein, we report a highly diastereo‐ and enantioselective biocatalytic approach for preparing a broad range of β‐branched chiral amines starting from their corresponding racemic ketones. This involves a dynamic kinetic resolution‐asymmetric reductive amination process catalyzed using only an imine reductase. Four rounds of protein engineering endowed wild‐type PocIRED with higher reactivity, better stereoselectivity, and a broader substrate scope. Using the engineered enzyme, various chiral amine products were synthesized with up to >99.9% ee, >99:1 dr, and >99% conversion. The practicability of the developed biocatalytic method was confirmed by producing a key intermediate of tofacitinib in 74% yield, >99.9% ee, and 98:2 dr at a challenging substrate loading of 110 g L−1. Our study provides a highly capable imine reductase and a protocol for developing an efficient biocatalytic dynamic kinetic resolution‐asymmetric reductive amination reaction system.

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