ABSTRACT
References .......................................................................................................................... 845
A look into the structure of many drugs and agrochemicals often reveals a chiral amine
subunit in the molecular framework [1]. Thus, there is a wide interest from the chemical and
pharmaceutical industries for these types of optically active amines and manufacturing
processes thereof. Many natural products, comprising highly complicated structures with
various stereogenic centers, often contain chiral amine moieties (e.g., alkaloids and deriva-
tives). Consequently, the synthesis of chiral amine building blocks is a field of intensive
research in organic chemistry, and is also still challenging with respect to enzymatic ap-
proaches. In spite of the fact that numerous chiral amine structures exist in nature, most of
the enzymatic synthetic approaches had not been developed until the 1990s [2]. On the other
hand, biocatalysis offers a multitude of potential solutions covering a wide range of concepts
based on resolution and asymmetric synthesis. Nevertheless, the ‘‘best solution’’ does not
SCHEME 34.1
830 Biocatalysis in the Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Industries
exist, and different concep ts turn out to be the prefer red solution depend ing on the case
studi ed.
