Biocatalytic Conversion of Aromatic Waste into Useful Compounds: Amaryllidaceae Alkaloids and Oligo Inositols

佛罗里达大学化学系的Tomas Hudlicky教授，因其对芳香废物转化为有用化合物的生物催化研究而受到有机合成计划的支持。通过用恶臭假单胞菌或相应的重组菌株（大肠杆菌JM109A）对芳香和卤代芳香化合物进行全细胞发酵，Hudlicky教授产生了可用于进一步操作所需目标分子的同手性合成子。他的研究导致了新的代谢物的分离和鉴定，包括那些从芳香底物中衍生的在其侧链上含有手性中心的代谢物，以及低聚肌醇的合成和化学评价。利用不寻常的同手性前体，通过他的生物催化研究可以很容易地获得，Hudlicky教授正在开发一种简明的合成水烟素，水烟素是一种很有前途但很难获得的抗肿瘤药物。这种合成不仅利用了芳香族化合物的生物催化转化对环境无害的方面，而且还允许在水或酒精中进行许多合成操作，而不是在更危险的传统有机溶剂中进行。考虑环境影响在化学加工和制造中起着越来越重要的作用。“绿色”化学方法包括使用可再生资源，替代溶剂和试剂，设计有效的化学合成，以及回收废物作为其他过程的原料。在有机合成项目的支持下，佛罗里达大学化学系的Tomas Hudlicky教授正在研究将芳香废物，特别是含卤素化合物转化为有价值产品的方法。通过利用微生物的催化活性，Hudlicky教授能够将这些废物转化为各种化合物，这些化合物有望作为具有生物医学、材料和环境意义的材料的化学前体。这些研究是“绿色的”，不仅因为它们使用化学废物作为起始材料，而且因为它们的合成效率和使用对环境友好的溶剂。

Professor Tomas Hudlicky, of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Florida, is supported by the Organic Synthesis Program for his studies of the biocatalytic conversion of aromatic waste into useful compounds. Through whole-cell fermentation of aromatic and halogenated aromatic compounds with Pseudomonas putida or a corresponding recombinant strain (E. coli JM109A), Professor Hudlicky generates homochiral synthons useful for further manipulation to desired target molecules. His studies are leading to the isolation and identification of new metabolites, including those derived from aromatic substrates containing chiral centers on their side chains, and to the synthesis and chemical evaluation of oligoinositols. Taking advantage of the unusual homochiral precursors made readily accessible through his biocatalytic studies, Professor Hudlicky is developing a concise synthesis of pancratistatin, a promising but hard-to-obtain antitumor agent. This synthesis not only exploits the environmentally benign aspects of the biocatalytic conversion of aromatic compounds, but also allows a number of synthetic manipulations to be carried out in water or alcohol instead of more hazardous conventional organic solvents.Consideration of environmental impacts is playing an increasingly important role in chemical processing and manufacturing. "Green" chemical approaches include the use of renewable resources, alternative solvents and reagents, the design of efficient chemical syntheses, and the recycling of waste as feedstock for other processes. With the support of the Organic Synthesis Program, Professor Tomas Hudlicky, of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Florida, is investigating methods for the conversion of aromatic waste, especially halogen-containing compounds, into valuable products. Through exploitation of the catalytic activity of microorganisms, Professor Hudlicky is able to convert such wastes into a variety of compounds which promise to serve as chemical precursors to materials of biomedical, material, and environmental significance. These studies are "green" not only in their use of chemical wastes as starting materials, but also in their synthetic efficiency and in their use of environmentally friendlier solvents.