Application of enzymatic CoA‐Ester Synthesis in Biocatalytic Cascades.
IPB chemists recently developed a bioorthogonal method for the ligation of coenzyme A (CoA) with cinnamic acids. Its applicability in biosynthetic cascades is shown for the direct transformation of cinnamic acids into natural benzaldehydes (like vanillin) or artificial derivatives (e. g. ethylvanillin). The reaction is catalyzed by a promiscuous plant ligase and yields CoA conjugates with different functionalization in high purity and without formation of by‐products. Subsequently, the method could be used to synthesize other CoA-carboxylic acid conjugates that are the basis for a multitude of natural products, such as antibiotics, alkaloids and quinones or for aritifical pathways.
