Method of producing (S)-cyanohydrins

US5885809A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• Degussa AG · DE

Inventors

• Franz Effenberger · Stuttgart, DE
• Harald Wajant · Echterdingen, DE
• Siegfried Forster · Alsdorf, DE
• Jürgen Roos · Stuttgart, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: Feb 7, 1997
• Grant date: Mar 23, 1999
• Expiry date: Feb 7, 2017

Classification

• Technology area (CPC C): Chemistry; Metallurgy
• CPC primary: C12P13/004
• WIPO field: Biotechnology
• WIPO sector: Chemistry

Abstract

A method for producing (S)-cyanohydrins of general formula ##STR1## in which R and R' independently represent (1) hydrogen; (2) a substituted or unsubstituted saturated alkyl group which may include amine, imine, hydroxy, C.sub.1 -C.sub.8 -alkoxy, halogen, carboxyl, C.sub.3 -C.sub.20 -cycloalkyl groups and/or a N,O,S-heteroatom-substituted aromatic ring as substituent; (3) a substituted or unsubstituted, singly or multiply unsaturated alkenyl- or alkinyl group which may include one or several amine, imine, hydroxy, C.sub.1 -C.sub.8 -alkoxy, halogen, carboxyl, C.sub.3 -C.sub.20 -cycloalkyl groups and/or one optionally N,O,S-heteroatom-substituted aromatic ring as substituents; (4) a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic or heteroaromatic group. The method includes an enzyme-catalyzed conversion of carbonyl compounds of general formula II ##STR2## with hydrogen cyanide or a substance supplying hydrogen cyanide or CN- for the conversion in the presence of an amount of an immobilized (S)-oxynitrilase which catalyzes the conversion. The use of nitrocellulose as carrier for the immobilized (S)-oxynitrilase results in a distinct increase of the yield of (S)-cyanohydrin and of the enantiom…