Effective biosynthesis of ethyl (R)-4-chloro-3-hydroxybutanoate by supplementation of l-glutamine, d-xylose and β-cyclodextrin in n-butyl acetate-water media.

To avoid adding NAD(+) and effectively transform ethyl 4-chloro-3-oxobutanoate, the mixture of l-glutamine (200mM) and d-xylose (250mM) was added into in n-butyl acetate-water (10:90, v/v) biphasic system instead of NAD(+) for increasing the biocatalytic efficiency. To further improve the synthesis of optically pure ethyl (R)-4-chloro-3-hydroxybutanoate (>99% ee), β-cyclodextrin was also added into this reaction media, and ethyl (R)-4-chloro-3-hydroxybutanoate (>99% ee) could be effectively synthesized from 800mM ethyl 4-chloro-3-oxobutanoate in the yield of 100% by whole-cells of recombinant E. coli CCZU-A13. Finally, the possible mechanism for improving the reductase activity by supplementation of l-glutamine, d-xylose and β-CD was proposed. In conclusion, this strategy has high potential for the effective biosynthesis of ethyl (R)-4-chloro-3-hydroxybutanoate (>99% ee).