Optimization and Scale-Up of a Lipase-Catalyzed Enzymatic Resolution of an Indole Ester Intermediate for a Prostaglandin D<sub>2</sub> (DP) Receptor Antagonist Targeting Allergic Rhinitis
作者:Matthew D. Truppo、Michel Journet、Ali Shafiee、Jeffrey C. Moore
DOI:10.1021/op050261z
日期:2006.5.1
Pseudomonas fluorescens lipase was found to catalyze the asymmetric hydrolysis of racemic indole-ethyl ester 1.1 The lipase converted the undesired ( S) enantiomer to its corresponding acid, while leaving the desired ( R) enantiomer untouched, yielding optically enhanced (R)-ester with an ee of 95%(1) at 48% conversion. The original process conditions for this resolution contained a second-phase immiscible organic solvent to solubilize the substrate, and required 128 g/L enzyme for a 100 g/L substrate charge (Shafiee, A.; Upadhyay, V.; Corley, E.; Biba, M.; Zhao, D.; Marcoux, J.-F.; Campos, K.; Journet, M.; King, A.; Larsen, R.; Grabowski, E.; Volante, R.; Tillyer, R. Tetrahedron Asymmetry 2005, 16, 3094). A study of substrate solubility and phase-partitioning behavior in a wide range of miscible and immiscible solvent concentrations demonstrated that the presence of the immiscible organic solvent caused the reaction to reach a mass transfer limited regime at conversions > 40%. Process optimization led to the elimination of the second-phase immiscible organic solvent, a greater than 4-fold reduction in enzyme charge, and an increased product ee of > 99%. The optimized process has been demonstrated at scale on two 40-kg batches and has resulted in product ester ee of 99.75% at 50% conversion.