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  • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
  • C12P—FERMENTATION OR ENZYME-USING PROCESSES TO SYNTHESISE A DESIRED CHEMICAL COMPOUND OR COMPOSITION OR TO SEPARATE OPTICAL ISOMERS FROM A RACEMIC MIXTURE
  • C12P5/00—Preparation of hydrocarbons or halogenated hydrocarbons
  • C12P5/007—Preparation of hydrocarbons or halogenated hydrocarbons containing one or more isoprene units, i.e. terpenes
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
  • C12P—FERMENTATION OR ENZYME-USING PROCESSES TO SYNTHESISE A DESIRED CHEMICAL COMPOUND OR COMPOSITION OR TO SEPARATE OPTICAL ISOMERS FROM A RACEMIC MIXTURE
  • C12P7/00—Preparation of oxygen-containing organic compounds
  • C12P7/40—Preparation of oxygen-containing organic compounds containing a carboxyl group including Peroxycarboxylic acids
  • C12P7/54—Acetic acid
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
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  • C12N9/00—Enzymes; Proenzymes; Compositions thereof; Processes for preparing, activating, inhibiting, separating or purifying enzymes
  • C12N9/0004—Oxidoreductases (1.)
  • C12N9/0071—Oxidoreductases (1.) acting on paired donors with incorporation of molecular oxygen (1.14)
  • C12N9/0073—Oxidoreductases (1.) acting on paired donors with incorporation of molecular oxygen (1.14) with NADH or NADPH as one donor, and incorporation of one atom of oxygen 1.14.13
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
  • C12P—FERMENTATION OR ENZYME-USING PROCESSES TO SYNTHESISE A DESIRED CHEMICAL COMPOUND OR COMPOSITION OR TO SEPARATE OPTICAL ISOMERS FROM A RACEMIC MIXTURE
  • C12P7/00—Preparation of oxygen-containing organic compounds
  • C12P7/02—Preparation of oxygen-containing organic compounds containing a hydroxy group
  • C12P7/04—Preparation of oxygen-containing organic compounds containing a hydroxy group acyclic
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
  • C12Y—ENZYMES
  • C12Y104/00—Oxidoreductases acting on the CH-NH2 group of donors (1.4)

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a new process for the preparation of homofarnesol, in particular of (3E,7£)-homofarnesol, and the ethyl derivative thereof.
• Homofarnesol is an important intermediate for the production of (-)-Ambrox (3a, 6, 6,9a- tetramethyldodecahydronaphtho[2,1-b]furan), a sought-after fragrance ingredient.
• the literature describes various processes for the preparation of homofarnesol.
• homofarnesol is synthesized in a lengthy process starting from Nerolidol (3,7,11- trimethyldodeca-1 ,6,10-trien-3-ol), via homofarnesylic acid amid (A. F. Barrero et al. , J. Org. Chem. 1996, 61 , 2215).
• homofarnesol may be prepared by decarbonylation of Nerolidol in the presence of a polar solvent and a palladium halide catalyst (W092/06063). Another way for the production of homofarnesol has been described by P. Kociensiki et al.
• a method of producing an acetate of formula (I) wherein R is methyl or ethyl, from a ketone of formula (II) wherein R has the meaning given above comprising contacting the compound of formula (II) with a Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenase (BVMO) enzyme in the presence of a cofactor.
• BVMO Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenase
• acetate of formula (I) obtained by and/or obtainable by the method of the first aspect of the present invention as precursor for the generation of an alcohol of formula (III), which optionally is used as the substrate for an enzyme-mediated production of a fragrance ingredient.
• Figure 1 shows the conversion over time of farnesylacetone in the presence of NAD or NADP in combination with a Glucose Dehydrogenase enzyme.
• Figure 2 shows the conversion over time of farnesylacetone in the presence of acetone or isopropanol at different concentrations.
• the present invention is based on the surprising finding that a ketone of formula (II) having a linear alkene chain undergoes an oxidation in the presence of a Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenase (BVMO) enzyme, resulting in an acetate, which can be used as a precursor for the preparation of an alcohol, such as homofarnesol or ethylhomofarnesol.
• BVMO Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenase
• BVMO enzymes can catalyse the conversion of ketones to esters.
• those enzymes that are reported are only described as acting in biological systems on cyclic substrates (including terpenones and benzo-fused ketones), aliphatic ketones, and aliphatic hydroxyketones.
• cyclic substrates including terpenones and benzo-fused ketones
• aliphatic ketones and aliphatic hydroxyketones.
• BVMO enzymes Nowhere in the literature is it reported that BVMO enzymes could act on polyunsaturated branched ketones.
• a method of producing an acetate of formula (I) wherein R is methyl or ethyl, from a ketone of formula (II) wherein R has the meaning given above comprising contacting the compound of formula (II) with a Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenase (BVMO) enzyme in the presence of a cofactor.
• BVMO Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenase
• the compound of formula (II) exists in the form of four different stereoisomers, for example, as a compound of formula (II) having an 5E,9E- or 5Z,9£-configuration.
• the method comprises contacting an 5E,9£-compound of formula (II) with a BVMO enzyme in the absence of any other stereoisomers of formula (II).
• the compound of formula (II) may, for example, be a mixture of stereoisomers.
• the mixture comprises the 5E,9£-compound of formula (II) and one or more other stereoisomers of formula (II).
• the mixture comprises the 5E,9£-compound of formula (II) and the 5E,9Z-compound of formula (II).
• the mixture comprises the 5E,9£-compound of formula (II) as main component.
• main component is meant that the weight % of 5E,9£-compound present in the mixture is greater than the weight % of 5Z,9£-com pound of formula (II).
• the compound of formula (II) may be referred to as farnesylacetone, encompassing E,£-farnesylacetone, E,Z-farnesylacetone, Z,£-farnesylacetone, Z,Z- farnesylacetone, and mixtures thereof.
• the compound of formula (II) may be referred to as ethylfarnesylacetone, encompassing E,£-ethylfarnesylacetone, E,Z-ethylfarnesylacetone, Z,E- ethylfarnesylacetone, Z,Z-ethylfarnesylacetone, and mixtures thereof.
• the compound of formula (II) wherein R is methyl is commercially available.
• the compound of formula (II) wherein R is ethyl is novel in its own right. It may be synthesized from 5,9- dimethyldeca-4,8-dienal following the procedure as described in Example 11.
• BVMO Bath-Villiger monooxygenase
• the BVMO enzyme may be a wild type enzyme, or a modified enzyme.
• wild type as used herein whether with reference to polypeptides such as enzymes, polynucleotides such as genes, organisms, cells, or any other matter refers to the naturally occurring form of said matter.
• modified as used herein with reference to polypeptides such as enzymes, polynucleotides such as genes, organisms, cells, or any other matter refers to such matter as being different to the wild type.
• Suitable alterations to wild type matter that may produce modified matter include alterations to the genetic material, alterations to the protein material. Alterations to the genetic material may include any genetic modification known in the art which will render the material different to the wild type. Examples of such genetic modifications include, but are not limited to: deletions, insertions, substitutions, fusions etc. which may be performed on the polynucleotide/s sequence containing the relevant gene or genes to be modified.
• the BVMO may be, but is not particularly limited to, a BVMO derived from a microorganism such as Pseudomonas sp., Rhodococcus sp., Brevibacterium sp., Comanonas sp., Acinetobacter sp., Arthrobacter sp., Brachymonas sp., Themobifida sp., Gordonia sp., Pseudooceanicola sp., etc, more preferably, BVMO derived from Pseudomonas sp., Brachymonas sp., P
• the BVMO is derived from Acinetobacter sp., or Pseudomonas sp.
• the nucleotide sequence of the BVMO-encoding gene can be obtained from the known database such as GenBank at NCBI.
• Enzymes may also be defined by their function according to the EC classification.
• the Enzyme Commission number (EC number) is a numerical classification scheme for enzymes, based on the chemical reactions they catalyse.
• the BVMO suitable for carrying out the conversion described herein may, for example, belong to the EC 1.4.13 class (oxidoreductases acting on paired donors, with incorporation or reduction of molecular oxygen with NADH or NADPH as one donor, and incorporation of one atom of oxygen into the other donor).
• the BVMO may, for example, be one or more of the BVMO enzymes used in the Examples below, for example EW-103 (which is a variant of a wild type Acinetobacter sp. BVMO enzyme) obtained from EnzymeWorks, Inc., San Diego (USA), or MekA obtained from Gecco Biotech B.V.. Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenase cofactors (BVMO-cofactors) are cofactors that assist the BVMO enzyme during the catalysis of reactions.
• the BVMO-cofactor used in the method provided herein may be of any type suitable for assisting the conversion of the ketone of formula (II) to the acetate of formula (I).
• the cofactor may, for example, be an inorganic or organic molecule.
• the BVMO-cofactor may, for example, be selected from nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH), and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH), or a combination thereof.
• NADH nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide
• NADPH nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate
• the BVMO-cofactor is present in the reaction mixture at a starting molar concentration relative to BVMO such as the BVMO enzyme is saturated with NAD(P)H. Therefore, preferably the NAD(P)H is present in the reaction mixture at a concentration which is at least equal to the concentration of the BVMO enzyme.
• the NAD(P)H is present in the reaction mixture at a starting concentration of about 1 to 10 mg/ml, e.g. between 1 to 5 mg/ml, or between 1 to 4 mg/ml.
• cofactors are too expensive to be used in stoichiometric amounts, and it is desired to regenerate them. Furthermore, by regenerating the cofactor, it is possible to enhance the efficiency of the desired conversion or to facilitate product isolation, thereby further reducing the costs of the process. For this reason cofactor regeneration systems are often used.
• GDH enzymes are common for the regeneration of NAD(P)H.
• GDH enzymes are commercially available from Codexis Inc. (GDH-105, GDH-901, CDX-019), Johnson Matthey (GDH-101) or EnzymeWorks (GDH-EW). Further GDH enzymes can be obtained according to literature, for example glucose dehydrogenase from Bacillus subtilis. (UniProtKB accession number: P12310, E.C. 1.1.1.47, (1986) J. Bacteriol. 1986, 166, 238 - 43). GDH enzymes are in general used in combination with, e.g., glucose for cofactor regeneration.
• alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) enzymes can be used for cofactor regeneration, when combined with, e.g., isopropanol, if not interfering with the reaction catalyzed by a particular BVMO enzyme.
• PTDH Phosphite dehydrogenase
• the Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenase may be present in the reaction mixture in any suitable form known in the art, such as but not limited to: a cell-free extract, or contained within the host organism cells, and these may be located within the reaction mixture in any suitable way known in the art, such as but not limited to: in free form in solution/suspension, or in purified and/or immobilized form (held upon a membrane, or bound to/within a column).
• the BVMO is present in the reaction mixture at a concentration necessary to produce the required amount of the acetate of formula (I) capable of being produced at the relative level of dissolved oxygen.
• the Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenase is present in the reaction mixture as a cell extract prepared from the cells it was produced in, wherein the cell is preferably the bacterial host cell used to produce the BVMO enzyme.
• the cell extract may be obtained by any suitable means capable of lysing the host cells, including, but not limited to: sonication, RNAse/lysozyme treatment, freeze-thaw treatment, or alkaline treatment.
• the cell extract is then treated to remove cellular debris before being used as a source of Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenase in the method described herein.
• the cell lysate may be treated by any suitable means known in the art, including, but not limited to: filtration, centrifugation, or purification with salts to obtain a cleared cell extract.
• the cofactor regeneration system serves to regenerate the BVMO-cofactor after it has been used to assist the conversion of the ketone of formula (II) to the acetate of formula (I).
• the cofactor regeneration system may, for example, regenerate the reduced form of the cofactor, for example NADH and/or NADPH.
• the cofactor regeneration system used in the methods provided herein may be of any type suitable for regenerating a BVMO-cofactor that is useful in the conversion of the ketone of formula (II) to the acetate of formula (I) (e.g. farnesylacetone to homofarnesylacetate) by a BVMO enzyme.
• a method of producing an acetate of formula (I) from ketone of formula (II) comprising contacting the ketone of formula (II) with a BVMO enzyme in the presence of cofactor and a cofactor regeneration system.
• the cofactor regeneration system is an ADH/isopropanol cofactor regeneration system.
• the cofactor regeneration system is a GDH/Glucose cofactor regeneration system. In another specific embodiment, the cofactor regeneration system is a Phosphite Dehydrogenase/Phosphite cofactor regeneration system.
• ADH/ispropanol cofactor regeneration system has the advantage, compared to the GDH/Glucose system, that there is no acidification of the reaction medium.
• the method of producing an acetate of formula (I) from a ketone of formula (II) is carried out under conditions of time, temperature, pH and solubilizing agent which allow for the conversion of the ketone of formula (II) to an acetate of formula (I).
• the pH of the reaction mixture may be in the range of 4 - 9, preferably, 7 to 9 (which includes a pH of about 8.5) and can be maintained by the addition of buffers to the reaction mixture or pH correction.
• An exemplary buffer for this purpose is a Tris-HCI buffer, or Glycine/NaOH buffer.
• the temperature is between from about 15°C to about 60°C, for example from about 15°C to about 50°C or from about 15°C to about 45°C or from about 30°C to about 60°C or from about 35°C to about 55°C for the BVMO enzyme considered.
• the temperature can be kept constant or can be altered during the bioconversion process.
• the method provided herein may further comprise purification of the compound of formula (I) and/or separation from any unreacted compound of formula (II).
• the compound of formula (I) may be purified by solvent extraction (e.g. using methyl benzene, hexane, tert. Butylmethylether (tBME)) and/or distillation.
• the compound of formula (I) may be further reacted.
• the compound of formula (I) may be hydrolysed to a compound of formula (III) wherein R is methyl or ethyl.
• the hydrolysis may be biocatalysed, and optionally take place in the same reaction broth.
• the compound of formula (I) can be chemically hydrolysed, preferably after the purification, e.g. in methanolic solution in the presence of potassium carbonate.
• the thus obtained alcohol may be used, for example, as a substrate for a biocatalysed conversion.
• the compound of formula (III) wherein R is methyl may be converted to (-)-Ambrox in the presence of an SHC (Squalene Hopene Cyclase) enzyme.
• the compound of formula (III) wherein R is ethyl may be converted to Ethylambrofix (which is described in more details in WO2021/110858).
• Example 1 Gas chromatography (GC) analysis, calculation of conversion 1 mI of solvent phase (solvent-extracted sample) is injected (split ratio 3) onto a 30 m x 0.32 mm x 0.25 mhi Zebron ZB-5 column. The column was developed at constant flow (4 ml/min H 2 ) with the temperature gradient: 100 °C, 15 °C/min to 200°C, 120 °C/min to 240 °C, 4 min at 240 °C. Inlet temperature: 250 °C, detector temperature: 250 °C (Thermo Trace 1310 GC apparatus).
• GC Gas chromatography
• E. coli TOP10 transformed with the plasmid for EthA production (GenBank: AAK48336.1, UniProtKB P9WNF8, Fraaije et al. 2004, J. Biol. Chem. 279(5), 3354) was grown in 200 ml LB medium supplemented with 100 mg/ml ampicillin and 200 mg/ml FAD to an OD 6 50 nm of 0.75 (37 °C, 200 rpm). Induction of enzyme production was then induced by addition of 0.2 % arabinose. Farnesylacetone (0.1%) was added to the culture followed by incubation for a further 23 h at 30 °C.
• the culture was sampled and extracted with methyl-f-butyl ether (MTBE) for GC analysis of substrate and product content.
• MTBE methyl-f-butyl ether
• the identity of the reaction product was confirmed by GC-MS analysis. Conversion of Farnesylacetone to Homofarnesylacetate was 2-5 % in two independent sets of experiments.
• CPDMO was produced from E. coli BL21(DE3) cells transformed with a pJ401-derived plasmid for CPDMO production (GenBank AB232538.1, UniProtKB Q1T7B5).
• 200 ml LB medium culture (50 mVLhI kanamycin) was inoculated from an overnight seed culture, incubated at 28°C, 160rpm for approx. 3.5 h to an OD 650 nm of 0.500-0.600.
• IPTG was added to 0.8 mM for induction of enzyme production.
• the culture was incubated for a further 3-4 h at 28°C, 160 rpm.
• the cells were harvested by centrifugation, and washed.
• the recovered cell pellet were suspended into 2.5 ml reaction buffer (50 mM Tris-CI pH 9.0), the cells disrupted by sonication.
• BVMO enzymes wild type or variant enzymes supplied by Gecco Biotech (http://www.gecco-biotech.com/) were applied to the conversion of farnesylacetone to homofarnesylacetate.
• the BVMO enzymes were provided as purified fusion proteins with phosphite dehydrogenase (PTDH).
• PTDH phosphite dehydrogenase
• 20 mM farnesylacetone (approx. 5 g/l) were reacted for 20 hours at 24°C in presence of 20 mM BVMO, 1 mM NADP and 100 mM Na 2 HP0 3 .5H 2 0 in 50mM Tris HCI (pH 7.5) buffer (1 ml reaction volume).
• ACMO Acetone monooxygenase
• CPDMO Cyclopentadecanone 1 ,2-monooxygenase
• Example 7 cofactor regeneration system
• GDH Glucose Dehydrogenase
• ADH Alcohol dehydrogenase
• ADH Alcohol Dehydrogenase
• isopropanol cofactor regeneration system An Alcohol Dehydrogenase (ADH)/isopropanol cofactor regeneration system.
• ADH enzymes are available from many enzyme manufacturers and suppliers (as e.g. KRED-P2-H07 from Codexis Inc.)
• Example 8 Reaction products of BVMO farnesylacetone conversion Homofarnesylacetate was identified by GC-MS analysis as the product of farnesylacetone conversion by the BVMO enzymes used.
• Example 9 Process-relevant reaction conditions and conversion yield Farnesylacetone conversion with EW-103 BVMO was run at 106 g/l substrate (0.4 M) in presence of 27 g/l isopropanol (0.44 M) with 9 g/l BVMO EW-103, 3.2 g/l ADH KRED-P2-H07 and 1.5 g/l NADPH (2 mM). The reaction was run in 50 mM Tris-CI buffer pH 8.5 at 30°C and with constant agitation. A reaction sample was extracted with MTBE for GC analysis. Farnesylacetone conversion was approx. 70 % after 48 hours of reaction, corresponding to a conversion yield of 8 g of farnesylacetone per g of BVMO enzyme.
• the conversion of farnesylacetone was 86.2 % in (1) representing a conversion yield of 2 g farnesylacetone per gram of BVMO enzyme as judged from a reaction sample extracted with MTBE.
• the conversion of farnesylacetone was 59 % as judged from a reaction sample extracted with MTBE, corresponding to a conversion yield of approx. 12.5 g farnesylacetone converted per gram of BVMO enzyme.
• the reaction (5 ml volume) contained 2 g/l substrate, 2 g/l BVMO enzyme, 0.5 g/l NADP, 4.5 g/l glucose, 2 g/l GDH in 50 mM Glycine/NaOH buffer pH 9.0.
• the reaction was incubated at 30°C, 650 rpm (Heidolph Synthesis 1 apparatus).
• the reaction was sampled 5, 12.5 and 48 h after start, extracted (0.6 ml reaction to 0.7 ml MTBE) and analysed for substrate/product content by GC-FID. Four reaction products were identified from four isomer substrate peaks.
• GC-MS analysis identified that ethylfarnesylacetone was converted to homoethylfarnesylacetate. Overall 25-30% conversion was observed.
• reaction product homoethylfarnesylacetate e.g. using, for example, a lipase enzyme would produce Ethylhomofarnesol, the substrate for cyclization to Ethylambrofix with a Squalene Hopene Cyclase (SHC) enzyme.
• SHC Squalene Hopene Cyclase

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