New Opportunities For Biocatalysis: Making Pharmaceutical Processes Greener

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Review

New opportunities for biocatalysis:


making pharmaceutical processes
greener
John M. Woodley
Center for BioProcess Engineering, Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark,
DK-2800 Lyngby, Denmark

The pharmaceutical industry requires synthetic routes to catalysts. The exquisite selective properties of enzymes
be environmentally compatible as well as to fulfill the mean that they can be used to resolve an existing chiral
demands of process economics and product specifica- center, such as kinetic resolution with a lipase, or, more
tion and to continually reduce development times. Bio- interestingly, to create new chiral centers via asymmetric
catalysis has the potential to deliver ‘greener’ chemical reactions, such as reduction with dehydrogenases or C-C
syntheses, and in this review some of these opportu- bond formation by lyases. Process chemists reason that
nities are outlined and outstanding challenges pre- this provides an effective synthetic strategy for creating
sented. Future development will require research optically pure molecules, which are essential for the man-
targeted towards increased commercial availability of ufacture of many pharmaceutical compounds. The use of
key enzymes, as well as the improvement of enzyme enzymes for chemical synthesis in this context has several
stability and substrate repertoire, to fully realize the advantages, including the avoidance of protection and de-
potential of biocatalysis for making pharmaceutical pro- protection steps because enzymes are not only highly
cesses greener. selective but also operate under mild conditions. This
provides the possibility to drastically reduce the number
Introduction of process steps (i.e. ‘telescoping’ the process), thereby
Biotechnology offers many possibilities for new medical reducing associated E-factors (Box 1). In particular, when
therapies and the manufacture of new pharmaceuticals, molecules with multiple chiral centers or molecules that
including the manufacture of small-molecule pharmaceu- contain many functional groups are required, the use of
ticals via biocatalysis. In a recent article [1], new oppor- mild enzymatic catalysis often is able to provide a route
tunities for biocatalysis in the pharmaceutical industry that avoids protection (and subsequent de-protection)
were highlighted. These opportunities have arisen from steps. Recognition of the benefits of selective biocatalysis
new scientific developments (such as protein engineering), has resulted in the introduction of a significant number of
engineering developments (such as accelerated process biocatalytic reactions into the synthetic strategies for
development) and the increased availability of interesting small-molecule intermediates and pharmaceuticals [1,2]
enzymes (such as nitrilases and oxynitrilases). However, either already on the market or still in the development
new opportunities have also arisen from new industrial pipeline. There are estimated to be around 150 imple-
requirements. It is well established that pharmaceutical mented biocatalytic processes in industry, and the majority
companies have to develop processes that reach a particu- of these are in the pharmaceutical sector [3]. Although the
lar specification under given economic constraints. more widespread application of large-scale biocatalysis is
Because of the limited patent life of new pharmaceuticals, currently restricted because of the limited number of com-
companies need to develop processes rapidly to offset the mercially available synthetically useful enzymes and lim-
high investment costs in pharmaceutical development and ited development speed, this approach is highly promising
clinical testing. More recently, the pressure has been because functionalized molecules of interest could be syn-
growing for pharmaceutical companies to develop pro- thesized with high regio- or stereo-selectivity. Asymmetric
cesses that are also environmentally friendly. In this reactions that are of interest for biocatalysis include those
review, some of the opportunities and challenges this listed in Table 1. To utilize these on a large scale, suitable
presents for biocatalysis will be highlighted. enzyme preparations will need to be made available. How-
ever, in cases where enzyme and process development was
Rationale for introducing biocatalysis in possible, scalable synthetic routes have subsequently been
pharmaceutical syntheses established. For example, Merck and Co. Inc. established a
In recent years, process chemists in the pharmaceutical biocatalytic process that used an enzymatic asymmetric
industry have been turning their attention to the appli- ketone reduction for the synthesis of (S)-3,5-bistrifluoro-
cation of biocatalysis using either isolated enzymes methylphenyl ethanol, an important alcohol intermediate
or, more commonly, immobilized enzymes or whole-cell required for the synthesis of NK-1 receptor antagonists
[4]. Isolated alcohol dehydrogenase from Rhodococcus ery-
Corresponding author: Woodley, J.M. (jw@kt.dtu.dk). thropolis reduced the poorly water-soluble ketone with
0167-7799/$ – see front matter ß 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.tibtech.2008.03.004 Available online 22 April 2008 321
Review Trends in Biotechnology Vol.26 No.6

Box 1. E-factors [6]


continue in the future to increase the selectivity of
therapies and reduce unwanted side effects. The increas-
 The E-factor is defined as the mass ratio of waste to product in a ing complexity, and therefore value, of the starting
given synthetic scheme. material for many enzymatic reactions means that achiev-
 The E-factor is widely regarded as a very quick assessment of the ing high yields is becoming increasingly important. To
environmental compatibility of a process and frequently reflects
the complexity of the synthesis.
synthesize such compounds, the best available chemical
 Typical E-factors in industry: technology and catalysis will be required, and this is
- Bulk chemicals <0.1 kg waste/kg product expected to incorporate biocatalysis to an increasing extent
- Fine chemicals 5–50 kg waste/kg product because of the increasing number of chiral centers and
- Pharmaceutical processes 25–100 kg waste/kg product functionality required. A criticism of many biocatalytic
syntheses has been that they suffer from a mere 50% yield
when racemic mixtures are being resolved. For the suc-
cessful application of biocatalysis in the future, the current
excellent optical purity (ee of 99.9%) and conversion (98%). low yields will need to be overcome; this can be achieved
The process was optimized, yielding product concen- with the increased use of asymmetric enzymes, which are
trations of up to 580 mM and space–time yields of up to able to provide a 100% yield (Table 1). For those reactions
260 g/L/d (grams per liter per day) [4], clearly demonstrat- in which the enzymatic resolution of enantiomers remains
ing the scalable potential of biocatalytic processes. the best possible route, the reported yields are now greater
The trend for small-molecule therapeutics with increas- than 50% in an increasing number of reactions because of
ingly complex structures, which often contain several recycling of the unwanted enantiomer with chemical or
chiral centers that need to be optically pure, is set to enzymatic deracemisation.

Table 1. Key asymmetric biocatalytic reactions [1]


Reaction Enzyme Type(s) of Product Number of
category reaction chiral centers
Oxidation Cytochrome Hydroxylation 1
P450

Dihydroxylation 2

Epoxidation 1 or 2

Monooxygenase Baeyer-Villiger 1

Haloperoxidase Epoxidation 1 or 2

Halohydrin 2
formation

Reduction Transaminase Transamination 1

Enoate Enolate 1
reductase reduction

Hydrolysis Epoxide Hydrolosis 2


hydrolase

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Review Trends in Biotechnology Vol.26 No.6

Green credentials of biocatalysis and even more importantly, when new synthetic schemes
Most pharmaceutical manufacturing processes involve are implemented. Aside from a reduction in the E-factor of
long and complex syntheses that result in particularly high a given synthesis process, biocatalysis can furthermore
E-factors [5,6] relative to other industrial sectors. By defi- contribute to the replacement of hazardous reagents and
nition, low E-factors imply green processes, so methods of commonly used organic solvents.
lowering E-factors are of particular interest. Because bio-
catalysis is highly selective and, furthermore, able to avoid Replacement of hazardous reagents
protection steps, the total number of steps in a synthesis is The replacement of hazardous reagents with less harmful
often reduced when biocatalytic steps are introduced, there- alternatives is a major goal for green chemistry and bio-
fore significantly reducing the high E-factors. This is a clear catalysis. A good example of such an alternative is the
example of how biocatalysis contributes to the development biocatalytic reduction of amides to amines, which avoids
of green syntheses. Moreover, the introduction of biocata- the use of potentially hazardous hydride reagents. The
lysis is often associated with significant environmental synthesis of amines is an essential requirement in vir-
improvements and cost reductions that are harder to tually all small-molecule pharmaceutical syntheses. A
quantify [5,7–9]. For example, ketone reductions currently common route to the synthesis of amines is amide
used in the large scale manufacture of a range of pharma- reduction via the use of hydrides such as LiAlH4 (lithium
ceuticals operate at ambient temperature and neutral pH in aluminium hydride) or DIBAL (diisobutylaluminium
an environmentally benign aqueous system. Furthermore, hydride). However, there are significant safety concerns
the cofactors used in biocatalysis are non-toxic, thereby regarding the large-scale use of these compounds due to
producing only innocuous waste streams. These green cre- their corrosive and hazardous nature. Alternatives for
dentials of biocatalysis (Box 2) have rarely been quantitat- amide reduction are therefore particularly sought after
ively assessed, and there are only very few examples in the in the implementation of new synthetic schemes. From a
literature of direct comparisons between chemical and bio- theoretical standpoint, hydrogen would be the ideal reduc-
catalytic routes. Nevertheless, the benefits of biocatalysis tant because only water is formed as a by-product. How-
listed in Box 2 are clearly advantageous from an environ- ever, the traditional catalysts for this hydrogen reaction
mental point of view. Many pharmaceutical companies are require high temperature and operation under high pres-
now aiming to manufacture their products as much as sure, which, in addition to an increased energy require-
possible in an environmentally friendly way because of ment, leads to a loss of selectivity for sensitive compounds.
regulatory as well as consumer pressure. Biocatalysis could Biocatalytic routes would provide an important alternative
be one technology (alongside other catalytic methods and pathway under mild conditions, such as ambient tempera-
novel synthetic routes) that can assist in achieving this ture and pressure. Sources for the enzymes that might
objective. The driving force for changing already established carry out such a reaction can be found in many microor-
chemical processes is increased efficiency and greener pro- ganisms. However, in most microorganisms, the preferred
cesses with biocatalysis. However, such a change is often path is to oxidize the amide, which often includes amide
hard to justify from a business point of view, especially when hydrolysis in the metabolism, leading to an unwanted side
the remaining product patent lifetime is short. By contrast, reaction. Interestingly, switching to an anaerobic environ-
greater opportunities for biocatalysis therefore might arise ment makes amide reduction possible, and this strategy
in the synthesis of new molecules that are currently in the has recently been used with a strain of Clostridium spor-
clinical pipeline. ogenes that was able to reduce benzamide to benzylamine
with yields of up to 73% [10]. This preliminary study also
Potential roles for biocatalysis in creating new green reported side activities that reduced the yield at high
chemical synthetic processes substrate concentration, but this limitation might be over-
To develop syntheses that are environmentally compatible, come by using isolated enzymes instead of the whole-cell
improvements to existing processes are required as well as, biocatalysts.
A second example of a reaction with considerable safety
Box 2. Green credentials of biocatalysis concerns is oxidation, which is an important reaction in
Biocatalysis:
chemical and pharmaceutical syntheses. Significant
 operates in water (thus replacing organic solvents) improvements have been made in this area in recent years,
 has highly selective catalysis, including regio- and stereo- which has resulted in the availability of far greener
selectivity (thus reducing E-factors) oxidation reagents. For example, processes have been
 operates in mild conditions, avoiding the need for protection (thus developed that use TEMPO (2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperi-
reducing E-factors)
 overcomes the use of some hazardous materials (resulting in
dine-1-oxyl), NaOCl (sodium hypochlorite) or Pd (palla-
improved LCA) dium) instead of the previously required high-valent
 uses renewable resources (resulting in improved LCA) metals, which were also required in stoichiometric rather
 can be modified, that is, the biocatalyst properties can be altered than in small catalytic amounts. Despite these improve-
to suit the process (thus improving the ease of processing)
ments, many of the catalytic oxidations still need to be
 is rarely endo- or exo-thermic (thus reducing energy require-
ments) conducted in halogenated solvents and require the removal
 provides a high yield as a result of selectivity and mild conditions or recycling of catalysts containing heavy metals. As an
(thus improving the efficiency of processing) alternative to the above mentioned oxidizing reagents,
 is catalytic rather than stoichiometric (thus improving the ease of oxygen would be ideal. However, in the presence of organic
processing)
solvents, which remain the preferred medium to date,

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Review Trends in Biotechnology Vol.26 No.6

it incurs significant safety concerns. Nevertheless, environmentally compatible solvents, such as water. Most
biocatalytic oxidations can be carried out by oxidizing biological processes and enzymatic reactions take place in
enzymes [11] in an aqueous environment with oxygen that water, and therefore biocatalysis is likely to be considered.
is usually supplied as air. One class of such enzymes is the In some reactions, two-phase biocatalytic systems can be
chloroperoxidases (CPOs). For example, the CPO from used to partially replace solvent, as well as to facilitate
Caldariomyces fumago has been shown to function effec- substrate supply [17] or product removal [18]. This is well
tively as an oxidation biocatalyst with resulting high yields illustrated for asymmetric ketone reductions, and several
and selectivities. However, for industrial implementation, conversions have been carried out in enzymatic two-phase
improvements in the enzyme are required because CPO (a systems. For example, using alcohol dehydrogenase from
heme-dependent peroxidase) is not very stable and is R. erythropolis, p-chloroacetophenone was converted into
sensitive to high concentrations of its substrate hydrogen the optically active s-enantiomer with high optical purity
peroxide. Another potentially interesting biocatalyst is the (ee >99%) and conversion (69%) in a two-phase system that
enzyme cyclohexanone monooxygenase, which is able to was composed of water and a long chain alkane [19]. The
catalyse the well known Baeyer-Villiger oxidation, in- choice of the organic solvent in the two-phase system is
cluding the insertion of an oxygen into a cyclic ketone to crucial to ensure sufficient biocatalyst activity and
create a lactone [12]. This enzyme has been particularly stability. It is important to note that non-enzymatic chemi-
successful in catalyzing the synthesis of multi-cyclic lac- cal reactions are also increasingly being carried out in
tones for potential use as pharmaceutical intermediates water [20]. This is an important step towards the devel-
with high regio- and stereo-selectivity. A remaining prac- opment of greener chemo-enzymatic synthetic routes [21].
tical problem for the industrial application of this and The second approach is to select the solvent in a systematic
many other enzymes is successful biocatalysis at high manner based on the solvent properties, including those
substrate concentration, which will require detailed which assist in the development of an environmentally
knowledge of process methods, such as substrate feeding compatible process [22]. Solvent selection incorporating
and product removal, for the achievement of high yields. A green issues in a quantifiable way will not only lead to
third class of interesting biocatalysts for oxidation reac- improved safety and potentially a greener reaction but
tions, the laccasses, has been successfully used for oxi- also, critically, will improve product recovery downstream
dation of functional groups, such as the coupling of phenols of the reactor. Computer-based algorithms are now becom-
and steroids and the creation of C-N bonds. Laccasses ing available that will make systematic solvent selection
operate under slightly acidic conditions (pH 4.5) at room procedures more automated [23,24], and this should enable
temperature and importantly can achieve product concen- the consideration of green alternatives at an early stage in
trations of up to 100 g/L [13]. Finally, lipases have been process development, when retro-synthetic schemes are
shown to use peroxides to catalyse epoxide formation drawn up.
[14,15]. Lipases are the most widely used enzymes in
organic synthesis and will readily catalyze a range of Challenges for implementing green biocatalytic
reactions, such as hydrolysis, transesterification and ester- processes
ification. They can also be used to synthesize peroxy car- Downstream processing
boxylic acids from hydrogen peroxide and free carboxylic Nature has evolved enzymes to operate at low concen-
acid, and they are ultimately able to provide a clean route trations of substrates and hence products. The low con-
to epoxides as potential intermediates to a range of chemi- centrations are far from those required in industrial
cals and pharmaceuticals. processes and place a particular burden on downstream
processing. Because most enzymes catalyze reactions in an
Replacement of organic solvents in reactions aqueous medium, the reaction itself is safe and scalable.
Organic solvent use accounts for around 80% of mass However, this also means that product recovery might be
utilization in typical pharmaceutical and fine chemical difficult because large quantities of water need to be
synthetic processes. In addition, many organic solvents removed, and this has significant economic implications
are toxic and therefore, on a mass basis, account for the in large-scale processes. Consequently, in many pharma-
largest proportion of chemicals of concern used in any ceutical manufacturing processes, liquid–liquid extraction
industrial synthetic scheme. In the laboratory, synthesis is a frequently required step in the downstream process.
chemists use organic solvents to assist in solubilizing This represents a challenge for the implementation of
compounds; these solvents increase the compounds’ avail- green processes because of the introduction of organic
ability for chemical reagents and catalysts. Upon indus- solvents. Alternative solutions are becoming available that
trial scale-up, many of these solvents will lead to involve multi-phasic reaction media or in situ product
considerable safety concerns or difficulties for effective removal [25].
product recovery. The large number of steps in pharma-
ceutical syntheses mean that intermediate solvent extrac- Systematic evaluation of processes
tion results, for example, in a large inventory of organic The development of new medicines is an extremely cost-
solvent. Hence, alternatives are being sought that can intensive process that includes the formulation of the final
overcome these problems; for example, GlaxoSmithKline drug form and the extensive testing of processes at each
has recently taken two approaches to select solvents more stage. However, the synthesis of the therapeutic molecules
suitable for scale-up [16]. The first approach is to investi- themselves is also of great importance and is often over-
gate options for replacing organic solvents with more looked when new therapies are discussed. To recover the

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Box 3. Research areas with potential for green chemistry


(see Box 3). The large attrition rate of new molecules
[33]
and an inevitable rush through early stages of process
and product development might have the consequence that
 Amide formation avoiding poor atom economy reagents novel strategies for process chemistry or engineering are
 Reduction of amides without hydride reagents considered too late to be incorporated, resulting in a con-
 Oxidation and epoxidation methods without the use of chlori- servative approach to new technology [26]. Therefore,
nated solvents
 Replacement of organic-solvent-based reactions
potential routes to new products, including greener routes,
might be missed by industry, whether or not they might
involve biocatalysis. Any systematic approach that quan-
huge investment costs for drug discovery and development, titatively identifies potential improvements can therefore
drug compounds have to be manufactured efficiently as be a great help in enhancing development speed. Several
well as economically and, most importantly, to standards companies have implemented a so-called green ‘score card’
that allow for their safe and effective use. Furthermore, to help them develop greener processes. The systematic
manufacturing processes in the drug sector need to be nature of this approach also helps in rapid process de-
developed rapidly to capitalize upon patent protection velopment and decision-making. At GlaxoSmithKline, the

Figure 1. Two alternative routes to 7-aminocephalospric acid (7-ACA). Both routes start from the potassium salt of cephalosporin (a) and result in the synthesis of 7-ACA
(b). Further details of these routes can be obtained from [32].

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Review Trends in Biotechnology Vol.26 No.6

Table 2. Qualitative comparison of chemical and biocatalytic existing possibilities. Important tools, such as LCA and
routes to 7-ACA other evaluation methods, are being established, but
Route Environmental Energy Safety Process further case studies are required.
impact use implications efficiency  Synthesis of new compounds via greener routes is a
Chemical significant opportunity for biocatalysis, but it will need
Enzymatic
to be accompanied by the establishment of rapid process
Details of routes are given in Figure 1 and reference [32]. Adapted, with permission,
from Ref. [32]. The routes are identified as being advantageous ( ), disadvanta- development methods [34].
geous ( ) or having no difference ( ).  The limiting factors in most enzymatic methods are not
factors in the chemistry itself, but rather the substrate
green score card now involves the incorporation of unit repertoire, enzyme availability and enzyme stability.
operation analysis as well as life cycle analysis (LCA) There is little doubt that modern biological tools, such as
concepts for each process. Several measures are therefore protein engineering and directed evolution [35], will
used to assess a given route. A software tool (known as play an important role in overcoming these limitations.
FLASCTM) enables the quantification of these environmen-  A further challenge is downstream processing, where
tal measures, although, rather interestingly, weighting is effective techniques need to be devised to recover
not applied to a given measure so that a flexible system for products in high concentrations from aqueous streams.
route evaluation and comparison can be built [27–31]. One Some solutions are available, but more work is required
of the few direct comparisons on environmental grounds of to overcome this obstacle.
a biocatalytic and chemical route for pharmaceutical syn-  Early evaluation of environmental impact of industrial
thesis (production of 7-ACA – Figure 1) was recently processes will avoid later complications, and this is true
created by using this software [32]. The outcomes regard- for any type of synthetic route [36].
ing energy, environment and safety are outlined in Table 2
and show that, in this case, the choice of the enzymatic In the coming years we can expect an increased presence
route can be justified from an environmental standpoint. A of biocatalysis in small-molecule pharmaceutical synth-
greater number of such comparative evaluations are eses [2], and this will potentially bring significant environ-
required so that a database of parameters for biocatalytic mental improvements to these processes.
and chemical processes can be built to help process engin-
eers and chemists to find replacement routes or to establish Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank Stuart R. Tindal (Technical University of
new synthetic strategies. Denmark), Richard K. Henderson, Concepción Jiménez-González and
Chris Preston (GlaxoSmithKline) for stimulating discussions during the
Industrial perspectives writing of this manuscript.
A most interesting development in 2007 was the pro-
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University of Malawi; and the University of Zambia; Universite du Mali; Universidade Eduardo
Mondlane, Mozambique; Makerere University, Uganda; Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Ecuador;
Universidad Francisco Marroquin, Guatemala; and the National Centre for Scientific and Technological
Information (NACESTI), Vietnam.

Through ‘A Book in Your Name’, these libraries received books with a total retail value of
approximately one million US dollars.

For more information, visit www.elsevier.com

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