Department of Food, Environmental and Nutritional Sciences (DeFENS), University of Milan, via Celoria 2, 20133 Milan, Italy.
Department of Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry, University of Genova, via Dodecaneso 31, 16146 Genova, Italy.
Biotechnol Adv. 2022 Oct;59:107985. doi: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2022.107985. Epub 2022 May 21.
After several decades during which proteases and after lipases took the biotransformation world scene as the predominant biocatalysts, a new, promising enzyme was discovered and characterized. The acyltransferase from Mycobacterium smegmatis (MsAcT) has in fact an extraordinary activity for a wide array of reactions, such as trans-esterification, amidation, trans-amidation and perhydrolysis, both in water and solvent media, giving rise to a series of interesting compounds including APIs (i.e., active pharmaceutical ingredients), natural flavors and fragrances, monomers for polymer synthesis, and peracids employed as disinfectants or antimicrobials. Although the most used acylating agent has been ethyl acetate (EtOAc), depending on the reaction type also acetamide, dimethyl carbonate and a variety of other esters, have been reported. The best yields were reached using very reactive donors such as vinyl or isopropenyl esters (almost complete conversion in rapid reaction times and water media for condensation reactions). In this review article the most innovative scientific advances on MsAcT, its mechanism and engineering are summarized, putting a particular focus on the different kind of processes (batch and flow) that it is possible to carry out using this enzyme as free or immobilized form. In conclusion, the author personal view on the unexplored reaction possibilities using MsAcT is reported as a window on the future of the topic.
在蛋白酶和脂肪酶主导生物转化领域几十年之后，一种新的、有前途的酶被发现并得到了描述。分枝杆菌酰基转移酶（MsAcT）实际上具有广泛的反应活性，例如酯交换、酰胺化、转酰胺和过水解，无论是在水相还是溶剂相介质中，都能产生一系列有趣的化合物，包括 API（即活性药物成分）、天然香料和香精、聚合物合成用单体以及用作消毒剂或抗菌剂的过酸。尽管最常用的酰化剂是乙酸乙酯（EtOAc），但根据反应类型，也有乙酰胺、碳酸二甲酯和各种其他酯类被报道。使用非常活泼的供体，如乙烯基或异丙烯基酯，可获得最佳产率（在快速反应时间和水相介质中进行缩合反应时，几乎完全转化）。在这篇综述文章中，总结了 MsAcT 的最新科学进展，包括其机制和工程应用，特别关注了使用游离或固定化形式的 MsAcT 进行不同类型的过程（分批和连续流）的可能性。最后，作者个人对使用 MsAcT 进行未探索反应的可能性的看法被作为该主题未来的一个窗口进行了报告。
