Structural Determinants for the Non‐Canonical Substrate Specificity of the ω‐Transaminase from Paracoccus denitrificans

Substrate binding pockets of ω‐transaminase (ω‐TA) consist of a large (L) pocket capable of dual recognition of hydrophobic and carboxyl substituents, and a small (S) pocket displaying a strict steric constraint that permits entry of a substituent no larger than an ethyl group. Despite the unique catalytic utility of ω‐TA enabling asymmetric reductive amination of carbonyl compounds, the severe size exclusion occurring in the S pocket has limited synthetic applications of ω‐TA to access structurally diverse chiral amines and amino acids. Here we report the first example of an ω‐TA whose S pocket shows a non‐canonical steric constraint and readily accommodates up to an n‐butyl substituent. The relaxed substrate specificity of the (S)‐selective ω‐TA, cloned from Paracoccus denitrificans (PDTA), afforded efficient asymmetric syntheses of unnatural amino acids carrying long alkyl side chains such as L ‐norvaline and L ‐norleucine. Molecular modeling using the recently released X‐ray structure of PDTA could pinpoint an exact location of the S pocket which had remained dubious. Entry of a hydrophobic substituent in the L pocket was found to have the S pocket accept up to an ethyl substituent, reminiscent of the canonical steric constraint. In contrast, binding of a carboxyl group to the L pocket induced a slight movement of V153 away from the small‐pocket‐forming residues. The resulting structural change elicited excavation of the S pocket, leading to formation of a narrow tunnel‐like structure allowing accommodation of linear alkyl groups of carboxylate‐bearing substrates. To verify the active site model, we introduced site‐directed mutagenesis to six active site residues and examined whether the point mutations alleviated the steric constraint in the S pocket. Consistent with the molecular modeling results, the V153A variant assumed an elongated S pocket and accepted even an n‐hexyl substituent. Our findings provide precise structural information on substrate binding to the active site of ω‐TA, which is expected to benefit rational redesign of substrate specificity of ω‐TA.

     

Asymmetric Synthesis of Optically Pure Pharmacologically Relevant Amines Employing ω‐Transaminases

Various ω‐transaminases were tested for the synthesis of enantiomerically pure amines from the corresponding ketones employing D ‐ or L ‐alanine as amino donor and lactate dehydrogenase to remove the side‐product pyruvate to shift the unfavourable reaction equilibrium to the product side. Both enantiomers, (R)‐ and (S)‐amines, could be prepared with up to 99% ee and >99% conversions within 24 h at 50 mM substrate concentration. The activity and stereoselectivity of the amination reaction depended on the ω‐transaminase and substrate employed; furthermore the co‐solvent significantly influenced both the stereoselectivity and activity of the transaminases. Best results were obtained by employing ATA‐117 to obtain the (R)‐enantiomer and ATA‐113 or ATA‐103 to access the (S)‐enantiomer with 15% v v⁻¹ DMSO.     

Enhancing Thermostability and Organic Solvent Tolerance of ω‐Transaminase through Global Incorporation of Fluorotyrosine

Here, we have utilized the incorporation of non‐canonical amino acids as a tool kit to improve enzyme properties for organic synthesis applications. The global incorporation of 3‐fluorotyrosine (FY) into ω‐transaminase (ω‐TA) to give ω‐TA[FY] enhanced the thermostability and organic solvent tolerance without altering substrate specificity and enantioselectivity. Moreover, ω‐TA[FY] was able to completely convert 25 mM of acetophenone into (S)‐1‐phenylethylamine (ee>99%) in the presence of 20% DMSO (v/v) which is ∼2‐fold higher when compared to wild‐type ω‐TA.

     

A Simple Procedure for Selective Hydroxylation of L‐Proline and L‐Pipecolic Acid with Recombinantly Expressed Proline Hydroxylases

Due to their diverse regio‐ and stereoselectivities, proline hydroxylases provide a straightforward access to hydroxprolines and other hydroxylated cylic amino acids, valuable chiral building blocks for chemical synthesis, which are often not available at reasonable expense by classical chemical synthesis. As yet, the application of proline hydroxylases is limited to a sophisticated industrial process for the production of two hydroxyproline isomers. This is mainly due to difficulties in their heterologues expression, their limited in vitro stability and complex product purification procedures. Here we describe a facile method for the production of cis‐3‐, cis‐4‐ and trans‐4‐proline hydroxylase, and their application for the regio‐ and stereoselective hydroxylation of L ‐proline and its six‐membered ring homologue l‐ pipecolic acid. Since in vitro catalysis with these enzymes is not very efficient and conversions are restricted to the milligram scale, an in vivo procedure was established, which allowed a quantitative conversion of 6 mM l‐ proline in shake flask cultures. After facile product purification via ion exchange chromatography, hydroxyprolines were isolated in yields of 35–61% (175–305 mg per flask). L ‐Pipecolic acid was converted with the isolated enzymes to prove the selectivities of the reactions. In transformations with optimized iron(II) concentration, conversions of 17–68% to hydroxylated products were achieved. The regio‐ and stereochemistry of the products was determined by NMR techniques. To demonstrate the applicability of the preparative in vivo approach for non‐physiological substrates, L ‐pipecolic acid was converted with an E. coli strain producing trans‐4‐proline hydroxylase to trans‐5‐hydroxy‐L ‐pipecolic acid in 61% yield. Thus, a synthetically valuable group of biocatalysts was made readily accessible for application in the laboratory without a need for special equipment or considerable development effort.     

Multi‐Enzymatic Synthesis of Optically Pure β‐Hydroxy α‐Amino Acids

A novel enzymatic production system of optically pure β‐hydroxy α‐amino acids was developed. Two enzymes were used for the system: an N‐succinyl L ‐amino acid β‐hydroxylase (SadA) belonging to the iron(II)/α‐ketoglutarate‐dependent dioxygenase superfamily and an N‐succinyl L ‐amino acid desuccinylase (LasA). The genes encoding the two enzymes are part of a gene set responsible for the biosynthesis of peptidyl compounds found in the Burkholderia ambifaria AMMD genome. SadA stereoselectively hydroxylated several N‐succinyl aliphatic L ‐amino acids and produced N‐succinyl β‐hydroxy L ‐amino acids, such as N‐succinyl‐L ‐β‐hydroxyvaline, N‐succinyl‐L ‐threonine, (2S,3R)‐N‐succinyl‐L ‐β‐hydroxyisoleucine, and N‐succinyl‐L ‐threo‐β‐hydroxyleucine. LasA catalyzed the desuccinylation of various N‐succinyl‐L ‐amino acids. Surprisingly, LasA is the first amide bond‐forming enzyme belonging to the amidohydrolase superfamily, and has succinylation activity towards the amino group of L ‐leucine. By combining SadA and LasA in a preparative scale production using N‐succinyl‐L ‐leucine as substrate, 2.3 mmol of L ‐threo‐β‐hydroxyleucine were successfully produced with 93% conversion and over 99% of diastereomeric excess. Consequently, the new production system described in this study has advantages in optical purity and reaction efficiency for application in the mass production of several β‐hydroxy α‐amino acids.

     

CGTase‐Catalysed cis‐Glucosylation of L‐Rhamnosides for the Preparation of Shigella flexneri 2a and 3a Haptens

We report the enzymatic synthesis of α‐D ‐glucopyranosyl‐(1→4)‐α‐L ‐rhamnopyranoside and α‐D ‐glucopyranosyl‐(1→3)‐α‐L ‐rhamnopyranoside by using a wild‐type transglucosidase in combination with glucoamylase and glucose oxidase. It was shown that Bacillus circulans 251 cyclodextrin glucanotransferase (CGTase, EC 2.1.4.19) can efficiently couple an α‐L ‐rhamnosyl acceptor to a maltodextrin molecule with an α‐(1→4) linkage, albeit in mixture with the α‐(1→3) regioisomer, thus giving two glucosylated acceptors in a single reaction. Optimisation of the CGTase coupling reaction with β‐cyclodextrin as the donor substrate and methyl or allyl α‐L ‐rhamnopyranoside as acceptors resulted in good conversion yields (42–70 %) with adjustable glycosylation regioselectivity. Moreover, the efficient chemical conversion of the products of CGTase‐mediated cis‐glucosylation into protected building blocks (previously used in the synthesis of O‐antigen fragments of several Shigella flexneri serotypes) was substantiated. These novel chemoenzymatic strategies towards useful, convenient intermediates in the synthesis of S. flexneri serotypes 2a and 3a oligosaccharides might find applications in developments towards synthetic carbohydrate‐based vaccine candidates against bacillary dysentery.     

Deracemisation of Mandelic Acid to Optically Pure Non‐Natural L‐Phenylglycine via a Redox‐Neutral Biocatalytic Cascade

A biocatalytic redox‐neutral reaction cascade was designed for the deracemisation of racemic mandelic acid to yield optically pure L ‐phenylglycine employing three enzymes. The cascade consisted of three steps: a racemisation, an enantioselective oxidation and a stereoselective reductive amination. The enantioselective oxidation of D ‐mandelic acid to the corresponding oxo acid was coupled with the stereoselective reductive amination of the latter; thus the oxidation as well as the reduction reactions were performed simultaneously. The formal hydrogen abstracted in the first step – the oxidation – was consumed in the reductive amination allowing a redox‐neutral cascade due to a cascade‐internal cofactor recycling. The enantiomers of the starting material were interconverted by a racemase (mandelate racemase) ensuring that in theory 100% of the starting material can be transformed. Using this set‐up racemic mandelic acid was transformed to optically pure L ‐phenylglycine (ee >97%) at 94% conversion without the requirement of any additional redox reagents in stoichiometric amounts.     

Synthesis of silk sericin peptides–L‐asparaginase bioconjugates and their characterization

The natural silk sericin, recovered from Bombyx mori silk waste by degumming and degrading, is a water‐soluble peptide with different molecular masses, ranging from 20 to 60 kDa. It is composed of 15 sorts of amino acids, among which the polar amino acids with hydroxyl, carboxyl and amino groups such as aspartic acid, serine and lysine account for 72%. The covalent attachment of the silk sericin peptides to L ‐asparaginase (ASNase) produces silk sericin peptides–L ‐asparaginase (SS–ASNase) bioconjugates that are active, stable, have a lower immune response, and have extended half‐lives in vitro in human serum. The modified enzyme coupled with sericin protein retains 55.8% of the original activity of the native enzyme. The optimal pH of SS–ASNase derivatives shifts considerably, to 5.0 in comparison with pH 6.0–8.0 of the native form. The thermostability and resistance to trypsin digestion of the modified enzyme are greatly enhanced as compared with ASNase alone. The Michaelis constant (K_m) of SS–ASNase is 65 times lower than that of the enzyme alone. This suggests that the affinity of the enzyme to its substrate L ‐asparagine greatly increases when bioconjugated with silk sericin. The in vivo experiments also show that the silk sericin peptides have no immunogenicity, and the antigenicity of the enzyme is obviously decreased when coupled covalently with the silk sericin peptides. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry     

Synthesis of poly (γ‐benzyl‐L‐glutamate) with well‐defined terminal structures and its block polypeptides with alanine,leucine and phenylalanine

The ring‐opening polymerization of γ‐benzyl‐L ‐glutamate N‐carboxyanhydride (BLG‐NCA) was initiated by n‐hexylamine in N,N‐dimethyformamide under normal pressure at 0 °C. The products were characterizated by gel permeation chromatography, matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectroscopy (MALDI‐TOF MS), nuclear magnetic resonance etc. MALDI‐TOF MS gave direct evidence that the side reactions during the polymerization of BLG‐NCA could be greatly reduced by decreasing the reaction temperature, e.g. from room temperature to 0 °C. As a result, over 90% of the products were amino‐terminated poly(γ‐benzyl‐L ‐glutamate) (PBLG) with low polydispersity index when the polymerization was carried out at 0 °C, which could be used to re‐initiate the polymerization of other NCAs. Then several well‐defined PBLG‐containing block copolypeptides were successfully synthesized in a convenient way. Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry     

Synthesis and characterization of biodegradable block copolymer pluronic‐b‐poly(L‐lysine)

This study presented the investigations on the synthesis of a novel biodegradable block copolymer of pluronic‐b‐poly(L ‐lysine) (pluronic‐b‐PLL), which combined the characteristics of aliphatic polyester and poly(amino acids). The synthesis work started with end‐capping of pluronic with N‐t‐butoxycarbonyl‐L ‐phenylalanine using dicyclohexylcarbodiimide in the presence of 4‐dimethylaminopyridine, followed by a deprotection process to obtain the amino‐terminated pluronic; the new primary amino group in the modified pluronic initiated ring‐opening polymerization of amino acid N‐carboxyanhydride, which afforded the pluronic‐b‐poly(N^ε‐(Z)‐L ‐lysine) block copolymer. Finally, removal of the side‐chain N^ε‐(carbonybenzoxy) end protecting groups yields the block copolymer of pluronic‐b‐PLL. The products were characterized by ¹H‐NMR, FTIR, DSC, and GPC. The block copolymer micelle containing the anticancer drug paclitaxel was prepared by the double emulsion method. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009     

Production of L‐methionine by immobilized pellets of Aspergillus oryzae in a packed bed reactor

Production of L ‐methionine by immobilized pellets of Aspergillus oryzae in a packed bed reactor was investigated. Based on the determination of relative enzymatic activity in the immobilized pellets, the optimum pH and temperature for the resolution reaction were 8.0 and 60 °C, respectively. The effects of substrate concentration on the resolution reaction were also investigated and the kinetic constants (K_m and V_m) of immobilized pellets were found to be 7.99 mmol dm^?3 and 1.38 mmol dm^?3 h^?1, respectively. The maximum substrate concentration for the resolution reaction without inhibition was 0.2 mol dm^?3. The L ‐methionine conversion rate reached 94% and 78% when substrate concentrations were 0.2 and 0.4 mol dm^?3, respectively, at a flow rate of 7.5 cm³ h^?1 using the small‐scale packed bed reactor developed. The half‐life of the L ‐aminoacylase in immobilized pellets was 70 days in continuous operation. All the results obtained in this paper exhibit a practical potential of using immobilized pellets of Aspergillus oryzae in the production of L ‐methionine. © 2002 Society of Chemical Industry     

Screening for Amidases: Isolation and Characterization of a Novel D‐Amidase from Variovorax paradoxus

Using racemic tert‐leucine amide as sole nitrogen source in minimal medium, 162 strains were isolated by enrichment techniques and shown to contain amidase activity. Among these isolates three D ‐amidase producers were found and identified as Variovorax paradoxus (two strains) and Klebsiella spec. The D ‐amidase from Variovorax paradoxus was purified to homogeneity by three chromatographic steps. With dl ‐Tle‐amide as substrate Michaelis Menten kinetics were observed with a K_M of 0.74 mM, a K_I of 640 mM and a V_max of 1.4 U/mg. The amidase has a broad pH‐optimum between 7 and 9.5 and a temperature optimum at 47–49 °C. The amidase hydrolyzed amino acid amides as well as carboxamides and 2‐hydroxy acid amides. The stereoselectivity of the reaction was variable, however. Hydrolyzing dl ‐Tle‐amide the enantiomeric ratio E was >200 resulting in D ‐Tle with an ee of >99% and up to 47% conversion. Similar results were obtained with dl ‐Leu‐amide and dl ‐Val‐amide while dl ‐Phe‐amide was hydrolyzed with an enantiomeric ratio E of only 5.     

Direct polycondensation of N‐trimellitylimido‐L‐isoleucine with aromatic diamines

N‐Trimellitylimido‐L ‐isoleucine (3) was prepared from the reaction of trimellitic anhydride with L ‐isoleucine [L ‐2‐amino‐3‐methylvalerianic acid or (2S,3S)‐2‐amino‐3‐methyl‐n‐valerinic acid] in an N,N‐dimethylformamide solution at the refluxing temperature. The direct polycondensation reaction of the monomer imide diacid (3) with 1,4‐phenylenediamine, 4,4′‐diaminodiphenylmethane, 4,4′‐diaminodiphenylsulfone, diaminodiphenylether, 1,5‐naphthalendiamine, 2,4‐diaminotoluene, and 1,3‐phenylenediamine was performed in a medium consisting of triphenyl phosphite, N‐methyl‐2‐pyrolidone (NMP), pyridine, and calcium chloride. The polycondensation was performed under two different conditions: in one method, the reaction mixture was heated in an NMP solution at 60, 90, and then 130°C for different periods of time, and in the other method, the reaction mixture was refluxed only for 1 min in the same solvent. The resulting poly(amide imide)s (PAIs), with inherent viscosities of 0.21–0.37 dL/g, were obtained in high yields. All of these compounds were fully characterized by IR spectra, elemental analyses, and specific rotation measurements. Some structural characterizations and physical properties of these new optically active PAIs were examined. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 89: 116–122, 2003     

Synthesis,physical properties,and crystallization of optically active poly(L‐phenyllactic acid) and poly(L‐phenyllactic acid‐co‐L‐lactic acid)

Optically active poly(L ‐phenyllactic acid) (Ph‐PLLA), poly(L ‐lactic acid) (PLLA), and poly(L ‐phenyllactic acid‐co‐L ‐lactic acid) with weight‐average molecular weight exceeding 6 × 10³ g mol^?1 were successfully synthesized by acid catalyzed direct polycondensation of L ‐phenyllactic acid and/or L ‐lactic acid in the presence of 2.5–10 wt % of p‐toluenesulfonic acid. Their physical properties and crystallization behavior were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetry, and polarimetry. The absolute value of specific optical rotation ([α]) for Ph‐PLLA (?38 deg dm^?1 g^?1 cm³) was much lower than that of [α] for PLLA (?150 deg dm^?1 g^?1 cm³), suggesting that the helical nature was reduced by incorporation of bulky phenyl group. PLLA was crystallizable during solvent evaporation, heating from room temperature, and cooling from the melt. Incorporation of a very low content of bulky phenyllactyl units even at 4 mol % suppressed the crystallization of L ‐lactyl unit sequences during heating and cooling, though the copolymers were crystallizable for L ‐phenylactyl units up to 6 mol % during solvent evaporation. The activation energy of thermal degradation (ΔE_td) for Ph‐PLLA (200 kJ mol^?1) was higher than that for PLLA (158 kJ mol^?1). The ΔE_td for the copolymers increased with an increase in L ‐phenyllactyl unit content. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

DNA adsorption on a poly‐L‐lysine‐immobilized poly(2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate) membrane

The DNA adsorption properties of poly‐L ‐lysine‐immobilized poly(2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (pHEMA) membrane were investigated. The pHEMA membrane was prepared by UV‐initiated photopolymerization and activated with epichlorohydrin. Poly‐L ‐lysine was then immobilized on the activated pHEMA membrane by covalent bonding, via a direct chemical reaction between the amino group of poly‐L ‐lysine and the epoxy group of pHEMA. The poly‐L ‐lysine content of the membrane was determined as 1537 mg m^?2. The poly‐L ‐lysine‐immobilized membrane was utilized as an adsorbent in DNA adsorption experiments. The maximum adsorption of DNA on the poly‐L ‐lysine‐immobilized pHEMA membrane was observed at 4 °C from phosphate‐buffered salt solution (pH 7.4, 0.1 M; NaCl 0.5 M) containing different amounts of DNA. The non‐specific adsorption of DNA on the plain pHEMA membrane was low (about 263 mg m^?2). Higher DNA adsorption values (up to 5849 mg m^?2) were obtained in which the poly‐L ‐lysine‐immobilized pHEMA membrane was used. Copyright © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry     

Synthesis and characterization of ABA type tri‐block copolymers derived from p‐dioxanone,L‐lactide and poly(ethylene glycol)

A series of triblock co‐polymers, consisting of a poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) central block joined to two blocks of random p‐dioxanone‐co‐L ‐lactide copolymers were synthesized by ring‐opening polymerization of p‐dioxanone (PDO) and L ‐lactide (LLA) initiated by PEG in the presence of stannous 2‐ethylhexanoate catalyst. The resulting copolymers were characterized by various techniques including ¹H and ¹³C NMR and FTIR spectroscopies, gel permeation chromatography, inherent viscosity, wide‐angle X‐ray diffractometry (WAXD) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The conversion of PDO and L ‐lactide into the polymer was studied various mole ratios and at different polymerization temperature from ¹H NMR spectra. Results of WAXD and DSC showed that the crystallinity of PEG macroinitiator was greatly influenced by the composition of PDO and L ‐lactide in the copolymer. The triblock copolymers with low molecular weight were soluble in water at below room temperature. © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry     

Ring‐opening graft polymerization of L‐lactide onto starch granules in an ionic liquid

A room temperature ionic liquid 1‐allyl‐3‐methylimidazolium chloride ([AMIM]Cl) was a promising direct solvent for starch and nonderivitizing solvent for starch‐effective dissolution, in which the ring‐opening graft polymerization (ROGP) of L ‐lactide (L ‐LA) onto starch chains was carried out homogeneously. The obtained starch grafted poly(L ‐lactide) (starch‐g‐PLLA) was characterized by FTIR, ¹³C NMR, DSC, and WAXD, and the good adhesion between the two components was evidenced by SEM observations although the chains of grafted PLLA were not long. The grafting efficiency of PLLA reached 30% when the ROGP proceeded at 100°C for 10 h with L ‐LA/starch 0.5 : 1 (wt/wt) and stannous octoate (Sn(Oct)₂) as a catalyst, which was calculated according to a standard curve newly created by FTIR method. The homopolymerization of L ‐LA and the disconnection of grafted PLLA from starch‐g‐PLLA were the main competition reactions. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

Kinetics of the L‐aminoacylase‐catalyzed resolution of N‐acetyl‐DL‐butyrine

The kinetics of the asymmetric hydrolysis of N‐acetyl‐DL ‐butyrine catalyzed by L ‐aminoacylase to obtain optically pure L ‐butyrine is described. Some of the constants are determined from the initial reaction rates and others from long‐term experiments in batch reactors by the numerical integration of the reactor design equation and minimization of the kinetic parameters. The methodology described can be applied to the kinetic study of other complex biocatalytic systems. Studies on enzyme activation by adding different divalent metal ions and enzymatic deactivation are also included. © 2002 Society of Chemical Industry     

Identification and Characterization of D‐Succinylase,and a Proposed Enzymatic Method for D‐Amino Acid Synthesis

Chiral amino acids are important intermediates for the pharmaceutical industry. We have developed a novel one‐pot enzymatic method for D ‐amino acid synthesis by the dynamic kinetic resolution of N‐succinyl‐dl ‐amino acids using D ‐succinylase (DSA) and N‐succinylamino acid racemase (NSAR, EC 4.2.1.113). The DSA from Cupriavidus sp. P4‐10‐C, which hydrolyzes N‐succinyl‐D ‐amino acids enantioselectively to their corresponding D ‐amino acids, was identified for the first time by screening soil microorganisms. Subsequently, the DSA gene was cloned and overexpressed in Escherichia coli. DSA was shown to comprise two subunits with molecular masses of 26 kDa and 60 kDa. Additionally, the NSAR gene from Geobacillus stearothermphilus NCA1503, which racemizes N‐succinylamino acids, was also cloned and overexpressed in E. coli. The highly purified DSA and NSAR prepared from each recombinant E. coli were characterized and used for D ‐amino acid synthesis. A one‐pot enzymatic method converted 100 mM N‐succinyl‐dl ‐phenylalanine to D ‐phenylalanine in 91.1% conversion with 86.7% ee. This novel enzymatic method may be useful for the industrial production of many D ‐amino acids.

     

Borate as a Phosphate Ester Mimic in Aldolase‐Catalyzed Reactions: Practical Synthesis of L‐Fructose and L‐Iminocyclitols

Dihydroxyacetone phosphate (DHAP)‐dependent aldolases have been widely used for the organic synthesis of unnatural sugars or derivatives. The practicality of using DHAP‐dependent aldolases is limited by their strict substrate specificity and the high cost and instability of DHAP. Here we report that the DHAP‐dependent aldolase L ‐rhamnulose 1‐phosphate aldolase (RhaD) accepts dihydroxyacetone (DHA) as a donor substrate in the presence of borate buffer, presumably by reversible in situ formation of DHA borate ester. The reaction appears to be irreversible, with the products thermodynamically trapped as borate complexes. We have applied this discovery to develop a practical one‐step synthesis of the non‐caloric sweetener L ‐fructose. L ‐Fructose was synthesized from racemic glyceraldehyde and DHA in the presence of RhaD and borate in 92 % yield on a gram scale. We also synthesized a series of L ‐iminocyclitols, which are potential glycosidase inhibitors, in only two steps.