An Aminotransferase from to Obtain Optically Pure β-Phenylalanine.

An aminotransferase ω-TAEn was identified from . The ω-TAEn was successfully expressed in and the obtained enzyme showed activity toward β-phenylalanine (β-phe) at optimal conditions. For optically pure ()-β-phe, 50% yield was observed by kinetic resolution of racemic amino with pyruvate as the amino acceptor. To obtain ()-β-phe, the lipase/ω-TAEn catalytic system was adopted. The ω-TAEn showed strict stereoselectivity to the amino donor. The formation of ()-β-phe was observed using 3-aminobutyric acid as the amino donor, and ()-β-phe was obtained by asymmetric synthesis with a yield of 82%.