PUB - Publikationen an der Universität Bielefeld

Enantioselective synthesis of chiral alcohols through asymmetric addition of water across an unactivated alkene is a highly sought-after transformation and a big challenge in catalysis. Here we report the identification and directed evolution of a fatty acid hydratase fromMarinitoga hydrogenitoleransfor highly enantioselective hydration of styrenes yielding chiral 1-arylethanols. While directed evolution for styrene hydration was performed in the presence of heptanoic acid to mimic fatty acid binding, the engineered enzyme displayed remarkable asymmetric styrene hydration activity in the absence of the small molecule activator. The evolved styrene hydratase provides access to chiral alcohols with high enantioselectivity (>99:1 e.r.), yield (up to 98%) and on preparative scale using simple alkenes and water as starting material. © 2022 Wiley-VCH GmbH.