Patent ID: 6326176
Filing Date: 2001-12-04
Classification: C12N,C12P

Abstract:
A method for catalyzing an aldol condensation between an aldol donor substrate and an aldol acceptor substrate for producing a .beta.-hydroxy ketone, said aldol donor substrate being either a ketone donor substrate or an aldehyde donor substrate and said aldol acceptor substrate being either a ketone acceptor substrate or an aldehyde acceptor substrate, the method comprising the following steps:Step A: admixing a catalytically effective amount of a catalytic antibody having aldol addition activity or of a catalytically active molecule containing an antibody combining site portion of said catalytic antibody with sufficient amounts of said aldol donor substrate and of said aldol acceptor substrate in a reaction medium for producing a reaction admixture, said aldol donor substrate including a reactive carbonyl group and an unbranched carbon adjacent to said carbonyl group, said catalytic antibody or said catalytically active molecule being of the type which includes a lysine residue which forms a Schiff base intermediate with the reactive carbonyl group of said aldol donor substrate; and thenStep B: maintaining said reaction admixture of said Step A for a period of time sufficient for said catalytic antibody or said catalytically active molecule to catalyze said aldol condensation between said aldol donor substrate and said aldol acceptor substrate for producing said .beta.-hydroxy ketone;wherein the following proviso applies:if the aldol donor substrate is the ketone donor substrate and the aldol acceptor substrate is the aldehyde acceptor substrate, then the ketone donor substrate is not an unfunctionalized open chain aliphatic ketone.