• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.20 no.7
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• pp.831-834
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• 1999

Binaphthol-derived chiral ketones 1a-c were synthesized and were shown to serve as active catalysts for asymmetric epoxidation of olefins using Oxone, although their enantioselectivities were not high. However, very interestingly, the stereochemical outcome of the resulting epoxides implicates that in the epoxidation using 1a-c, the planar transition state may be more favorable than the spiro transition state.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.27 no.9
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• pp.1283-1284
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• 2006

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.503-509
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• 2014

The carbon/porous silica composite membrane was fabricated in a simple manner, which could be successfully for the simultaneous separation and production of chiral epoxides and 1,2-diols, based on their differences in hydrophilic/hydrophobic natures. The chiral Co(III)-$BF_3$ salen catalyst adopted in the membrane reactor system has given the very high enantioselectivity and recyclability in hydrolysis of terminal epoxides such as ECH, 1,2-EB, and SO. The optically pure epoxide and the chiral catalyst were collected in the organic phase after hydrolysis reaction. The hydrophilic water-soluble 1,2-diol product hydrolyzed by chiral salen diffused into the aqueous phase through the SBA-16 or NaY/SBA-16 silica composite layer during the reaction. The water acted simultaneously as a reactant and a solvent in the membrane system. One optical isomer was obtained with high purity and yield, and furthermore the catalysts could be recycled without observable loss in their activity in the continuous flow-type membrane reactor.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.spc8
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• pp.2965-2969
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• 2011

Highly efficient and rapid aminolysis of epoxides with various amines in water under microwave irradiation in the absence of catalyst was developed. Chiral ${\beta}$-amino alcohols were formed in a short time with excellent yields.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.365-370
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• 2019

In this study, effects of the ultrasonic irradiation during the reaction process were investigated for the enantioselective kinetic resolution (EKR) reaction of racemic epoxides in the presence of chiral cobalt salen catalysts, as compared to that of using the conventional mechanical stirring. In order to compare catalytic activities, the chiral cobalt salen complexes having $AlCl_3-$, $BF_3-$ and nitrobenzenesulfonic acid (NBSA) were synthesized and used as catalysts, and then three kinds of the racemic epoxides such as ephichlorohydrine (ECH), epoxy phenoxypropane (EPP) and propylene oxide (PO) were used as reactants. In addition, EKR reactions have been performed using the water and methanol as nucleophiles, respectively. The unique contribution of ultrasonic irradiation as a powerful mixing medium was evaluated in this study to improve the kinetics in comparison to the conventional mechanical agitation during EKR reactions. The reaction time to obtain the highest 99 ee% became shorten more than that of above 60%, when the ultrasonic irradiation was used. This result may be interpreted by the cavitation effect of ultrasound in the solution, generating a powerful shear force for the very violent mixing.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Life Science Conference
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.21-28
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• 2001

A newly isolated Aspergillus niger possessing the novel epoxide hydrolase(EHase) activity was investigated for the enantioselective hydrolysis of racemic aromatic epoxides. The gene encoding EHase was cloned by RT-PCR, and molecular characteristics of the EHase gene were compared with other microbial EHases. The cloned gene encodes 398 amino acids with a deduced molecular mass of 44.5 kDa and pI of 4.83, and sequence homology with other microbial EHase was low. Functional recombinant EHase could be obtained by heterologous expressions in E. coli. Enantioselectivity of recombinant EHase was tested for valuable aromatic epoxide intermediates. Reaction conditions of EHase-catalyzed asymmetric resolution were optimized for the production of chiral styrene oxide.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.389-396
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• 2009

MFI structural zeolite (ZSM-5 or Sililcalite) was treated with HF solution to introduce mesoporous channels in the microporous crystals. Inner mesopore size could be controlled from 2.5 to 3.5 nm by changing the concentration of HF solution. The pore structure of HF-treated MFI zeolite was studied by instrumental analysis. The active Co (III) salen complex monomers were successfully anchored non-covalently on the surfaces of mesoporous MFI-type zeolite. These heterogeneous catalysts could be applied in asymmetric ring opening of terminal epoxides by phenol derivatives. It showed very high enantioselectivity and yield up to 95% in the catalytic synthesis of optically active $\alpha$-aryloxy alcohol compounds.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.630-634
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• 2000

Chiral epoxides are useful chiral synthons in organic synthesis, and various biological methods have been investigated for their production. In this work, the enantioselective resolution of racemic styrene oxide was investigated using Aspergillus niger sp. for the production of optically pure (S)-styrene oxide. The enantioselectivity and initial hydrolysis rates of the racemic substrate were highly dependent of the pH, temperature, and the volume ratio of cosolvent. Experimental sets of pH, temperature, and the volume ratio of cosolvent were investigated using a central composite experimental design, and reaction conditions were optimized by response surface analysis. The optimal conditions of pH, temperature, and the volume ratio of cosolvent were determined to be 7.78, $28.32^{\circ}C$, and 2.4%(v/v), respectively, and optically pure (S)-styrene oxide (>99% ee) was obtained at 35% yield using this microbial enantioselective hydrolysis reaction.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.562-567
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• 2001

Aspergillus niger LK harboring the enantioselective epoxide hydrolase (EHase) activity was isolated, and enantioselectivity of EHase was tested for various racemic aromatic epoxides. The gene encoding epoxide hydrolase was cloned from cDNA library generated by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction of the isolated total mRNA. Sequence analysis showed that the cloned gene encodes 398 amino acids with a deduced molecular mass of 44.5 kDa. Database comparison of the amino acid sequence reveals that it is similar to fungal EHase, whereas the sequence identity with bacterial EHase is very low. Recombinant expression of the cloned EHase in Escherichia coli BL21 yielded an active EHases, which can offer a potential biocatalyst for the production of chiral epoxides.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.577-582
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• 2012

In this work, vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) technique was applied for the determination of %EE of chiral compounds. It may provide an easy way to determine the %EE with a proper accuracy within 2% error ranges as well as the absolute configuration of enantiomers. We demonstrated herein a flow cell VCD (FT-VCD) technique for time-dependent %EE measurements. The simultaneous monitoring of the mole fraction and %EE for two chiral species (epichlorohydrin and glycidol mixture) in the mixture was shown to be successful without any further separation steps. Thus, we demonstrate that FT-VCD is an appropriate analytical tool to monitor the kinetics of reactions involving chiral molecules. FT-VCD also provides a convenient nondestructive approach for the time dependent determination of the optical purity of individual components in a reaction mixture containing chiral molecules.