Rational design of an L-histidine-derived minimal artificial acylase for the kinetic resolution of racemic alcohols.

This communication describes the rational design of an l-histidine-derived minimal artificial acylase. Our new artificial acylase, tert-butyldiphenylsilyl ether of N-(2,4,6-triisopropylbenzenesulfonyl)-pi(Me)-l-histidinol, is a simple and small molecule (molecular weight = 660) that contains only one chiral carbon center that originates from natural l-histidine. The kinetic acylation of racemic secondary alcohols induced by this compound showed an S (kfast/kslow) value of up to 93. A reusable polystyrene-bound artificial acylase was also developed to examine its practical usability.