From small to macrolactams: an enzymatic approach – SMALA

Biocatalysis is now a mature technology within the chemical industry landscape. Indeed many examples exist in which enzymatic steps have been implemented in industrial-scale synthesis, and complete enzyme-based pathways have been developed, notably in the pharmaceuticals field. However, the enzymatic synthesis of lactams, polymer precursors and whose skeleton is found in many pharmaceutical active ingredients, has been poorly studied due to the lack of characterized enzymes specific to their formation. The SMALA project proposes to explore new pathways for the synthesis of lactams from small to macro starting from w-aminoacids, in particular of bio-based origin. Following promising preliminary results, two enzyme types will be targeted to propose a cascade reaction with one enzymatic step for g-e lactams and two enzymatic steps for macrolactams. The enzymes will be optimized by protein engineering to adapt to the requirements of a scalable process that will be used for the synthesis of target lactams.