Racemization of enantiopure secondary alcohols by Thermoanaerobacter ethanolicus secondary alcohol dehydrogenase.

Controlled racemization of enantiopure phenyl-ring-containing secondary alcohols is achieved in this study using W110A secondary alcohol dehydrogenase from Thermoanaerobacter ethanolicus (W110A TeSADH) and in the presence of the reduced and oxidized forms of its cofactor nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide. Racemization of both enantiomers of alcohols accepted by W110A TeSADH, not only with low, but also with reasonably high, enantiomeric discrimination is achieved by this method. Furthermore, the high tolerance of TeSADH to organic solvents allows TeSADH-catalyzed racemization to be conducted in media containing up to 50% (v/v) of organic solvents.