A Single‐Transaminase‐Catalyzed Biocatalytic Cascade for Efficient Asymmetric Synthesis of l‐Phosphinothricin

Abstract A single‐transaminase‐catalyzed biocatalytic cascade was developed by employing the desired biocatalyst, ATA‐117‐Rd11, that showed high activity toward 2‐oxo‐4‐[(hydroxy)(methyl)phosphinoyl] butyric acid (PPO) and α‐ketoglutarate, and low activity against pyruvate. The cascade successfully promotes a highly asymmetric amination reaction for the synthesis of l ‐phosphinothricin ( l ‐PPT) with high conversion (>95 %) and>99 % ee . In a scale‐up experiment, using 10 kg pre‐frozen E. coli cells harboring ATA‐117‐Rd11 as catalyst, 80 kg PPO was converted to ≈70 kg l ‐PPT after 24 hours with a high ee value (>99 %).