Candida Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Candida, including details on thrush infections, yeast, diet, treatment, symptoms.

Biotransformations for the production of the chiral drug (S)-Duloxetine catalyzed by a novel isolate of Candida tropicalis.

Soni P, Banerjee UC

Biocatalysis Laboratory, Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Sector 67, S.A.S. Nagar, 160 062, India.

A yeast strain, Candida tropicalis PBR-2, isolated from soil, is capable of carrying out the enantioselective reduction of N,N-dimethyl-3-keto-3-(2-thienyl)-1-propanamine to (S)-N,N-dimethyl-3-hydroxy-3-(2-thienyl)-1-propanamine, a key intermediate in the synthesis of the chiral drug (S)-Duloxetine. The organism produced the enantiopure (S)-alcohol with a good yield (> 80%) and almost absolute enantioselectivity, with an enantiomeric excess (ee) > 99%. Parameters of the bioreduction reaction were optimized and the optimal temperature and pH for the reduction were found to be 30 degrees C and 7.0, respectively. The optimized substrate and the resting cell concentration were 1 g/l and 250 g/l, respectively. The preparative-scale reaction using resting cells of C. tropicalis yielded the (S)-alcohol at 84-88% conversion and ee > 99%.

Published 21 June 2005 in Appl Microbiol Biotechnol, 67(6): 771-7.
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