Green Routes for the Production of Enantiopure Benzylisoquinoline Alkaloids

Ghirga, Francesca; Bonamore, Alessandra; Calisti, Lorenzo; D’Acquarica, Ilaria; Mori, Mattia; Botta, Bruno; Boffi, Alberto; Macone, Alberto

doi:10.3390/ijms18112464

Open AccessReview

Green Routes for the Production of Enantiopure Benzylisoquinoline Alkaloids

by

Francesca Ghirga

¹,

Alessandra Bonamore

^2,*,

Lorenzo Calisti

²,

Ilaria D’Acquarica

^3,*

,

Mattia Mori

¹,

Bruno Botta

³

,

Alberto Boffi

²

and

Alberto Macone

^2,*

¹

Center for Life Nano Science@Sapienza, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Viale Regina Elena 291, 00161 Rome, Italy

²

Deaprtment of Biochemical Sciences “A.Rossi Fanelli”, Sapienza University of Rome, Pizzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy

³

Department of Chemistry and Technology of Drugs, Sapienza University of Rome, Pizzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy

^*

Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2017, 18(11), 2464; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms18112464

Submission received: 6 November 2017 / Revised: 14 November 2017 / Accepted: 16 November 2017 / Published: 20 November 2017

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Transformations of Natural Products)

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Abstract

Benzylisoquinoline alkaloids (BIAs) are among the most important plant secondary metabolites, in that they include a number of biologically active substances widely employed as pharmaceuticals. Isolation of BIAs from their natural sources is an expensive and time-consuming procedure as they accumulate in very low levels in plant. Moreover, total synthesis is challenging due to the presence of stereogenic centers. In view of these considerations, green and scalable methods for BIA synthesis using fully enzymatic approaches are getting more and more attention. The aim of this paper is to review fully enzymatic strategies for producing the benzylisoquinoline central precursor, (S)-norcoclaurine and its derivatives. Specifically, we will detail the current status of synthesis of BIAs in microbial hosts as well as using isolated and recombinant enzymes.

Keywords: alkaloids; benzylisoquinoline alkaloids; green synthesis; recombinant enzymes; microbial factories

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MDPI and ACS Style

Ghirga, F.; Bonamore, A.; Calisti, L.; D’Acquarica, I.; Mori, M.; Botta, B.; Boffi, A.; Macone, A. Green Routes for the Production of Enantiopure Benzylisoquinoline Alkaloids. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2017, 18, 2464. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms18112464

AMA Style

Ghirga F, Bonamore A, Calisti L, D’Acquarica I, Mori M, Botta B, Boffi A, Macone A. Green Routes for the Production of Enantiopure Benzylisoquinoline Alkaloids. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2017; 18(11):2464. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms18112464

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ghirga, Francesca, Alessandra Bonamore, Lorenzo Calisti, Ilaria D’Acquarica, Mattia Mori, Bruno Botta, Alberto Boffi, and Alberto Macone. 2017. "Green Routes for the Production of Enantiopure Benzylisoquinoline Alkaloids" International Journal of Molecular Sciences 18, no. 11: 2464. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms18112464

APA Style

Ghirga, F., Bonamore, A., Calisti, L., D’Acquarica, I., Mori, M., Botta, B., Boffi, A., & Macone, A. (2017). Green Routes for the Production of Enantiopure Benzylisoquinoline Alkaloids. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 18(11), 2464. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms18112464

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

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Green Routes for the Production of Enantiopure Benzylisoquinoline Alkaloids

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