Scalable and Selective β-Hydroxy-α-Amino Acid Synthesis Catalyzed by Promiscuous l-Threonine Transaldolase ObiH.

Enzymes from secondary metabolic pathways possess broad potential for the selective synthesis of complex bioactive molecules. However, the practical application of these enzymes for organic synthesis is dependent on the development of efficient, economical, operationally simple, and well-characterized systems for preparative scale reactions. We sought to bridge this knowledge gap for the selective biocatalytic synthesis of β-hydroxy-α-amino acids, which are important synthetic building blocks.