An engineered imine reductase for highly diastereo- and enantioselective synthesis of β-branched amines with contiguous stereocenters

Abstract βBranched chiral amines with contiguous stereocenters are valuable building blocks for preparing various biologically active molecules. However, their asymmetric synthesis remains challenging. Herein, we report a highly diastereo- and enantioselective biocatalytic approach for preparing a broad range of β-branched chiral amines starting from their corresponding racemic ketones. This involves a dynamic kinetic resolution-asymmetric reductive amination process catalyzed using only an imine reductase. Four rounds of protein engineering endowed wild-type PocIRED with higher reactivity, better stereoselectivity, and a broader substrate scope. Using the engineered enzyme, various chiral amine products were synthesized with up to > 99.9% ee, > 99:1 dr, and > 99% conversion. The practicability of the developed biocatalytic method was confirmed by producing a key intermediate of tofacitinib in 74% yield, > 99.9% ee, and 98:2 dr at a challenging substrate loading of 110 g L− 1. Our study provides a highly capable imine reductase and a protocol for developing an efficient biocatalytic dynamic kinetic resolution-asymmetric reductive amination reaction system.