# Biocatalytic Methods for the Asymmetric Synthesis of Amines

> **NIH NIH F32** · CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY · 2020 · $15,191

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
 Enzymes are capable of catalyzing chemical reactions with exquisite site and stereoselectivity under
environmentally benign conditions. Thus, the development of new biocatalytic methods for the asymmetric
synthesis of pharmaceutically important amines is highly desirable. Chiral aminoalcohols and diamines are
ubiquitous structural motif in biologically active natural products and clinically important small molecule
therapeutics with antibacterial, antiviral and anticancer activity. The focus of this proposal is to generate and
evolve heme proteins for the stereoselective preparation of 1,2-aminoalcohols and 1,2-diamines using a nitrene
transfer mechanism. The specific aims of this proposal include 1) a new biocatalytic aminohydroxylation of
alkenes for the synthesis of enantioenriched 1,2-aminoalcohols, and 2) a new biocatalytic olefin diamination to
access stereochemically well-defined vicinal diamines. A large library of structurally diverse heme proteins in the
Arnold lab will be evaluated for these heme protein-catalyzed asymmetric nitrene transfer processes. The
catalytic activity and stereoselectivity of heme proteins will be optimized via directed evolution using site
saturated mutagenesis and error prone PCR techniques. The proposed research will afford new avenues for the
sustainable and highly enantioselective synthesis of biologically important chiral amines. Further understanding
of the structure-activity relationship of heme proteins will pave the way for the development of other
enantioselective nitrene transfer reactions.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9933814
- **Project number:** 5F32GM133126-02
- **Recipient organization:** CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
- **Principal Investigator:** Yang Yang
- **Activity code:** F32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $15,191
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-05-06 → 2020-07-05

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9933814

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9933814, Biocatalytic Methods for the Asymmetric Synthesis of Amines (5F32GM133126-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9933814. Licensed CC0.

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