Biomimetic Transamination – a Metal-Free Alternative to the Reductive Amination. Application for Generalized Preparation of Fluorine-Containing Amines and Amino Acids

The biomimetic transamination of fluorinated carbonyl compounds, represent the most methodologically concise and generalized approach to the family of fluorine-containing amines and amino acids. Such amino compounds are of critical importance in the medicinal, bioorganic, biochemistry research and pharmaceutical industry. This review summarizes all of the synthetically and methodologically important achievements in the field published to date. The review consists of two major parts summarizing the literature methods on biomimetic transamination of fluorine-free carbonyl compounds and the authors own results on the application of this bio-inspired approach to fluorinated derivatives. Discussion on each particular method includes synthetic opportunities, limitations, practicality and efficiency of the synthetic procedures. Keywords: Biomimetic reactions, transamination, reductive amination, fluorine-containing amines and amino acids, green metal-free chemistry, stereoselective, enzyme-catalyzed reactions, organic compounds, biological transamination, continuous-flow reaction