Patent ID: 7671231

Claim:
A process for making an amino acid, comprising the steps of: (a) contacting a compound of formula I with a hydroformylation catalyst and synthesis gas to produce a mixture of aldehyde compounds comprising the formulas IIa, IIb and IIc; (b) reacting the mixture of aldehyde compounds from step (a) to produce a mixture of derivative compounds; (c) contacting the mixture of derivative compounds from step (b) with an enantioselective hydrolase enzyme in the presence of water to produce an L-amino acid having the formula IV; (d) isolating the amino acid having the formula IV, wherein in formulas I, IIa, IIb, IIc, and IV, R is H, alkyl or aryl and R 1 and R 2 are the same or different alkyl groups and wherein R 1 and R 2 may be fused.