Direct Alkylation of Amines with Primary and Secondary Alcohols through Biocatalytic Hydrogen Borrowing.

The reductive aminase from Aspergillus oryzae (AspRedAm) was combined with a single alcohol dehydrogenase (either metagenomic ADH-150, an ADH from Sphingobium yanoikuyae (SyADH), or a variant of the ADH from Thermoanaerobacter ethanolicus (TeSADH W110A)) in a redox-neutral cascade for the biocatalytic alkylation of amines using primary and secondary alcohols. Aliphatic and aromatic secondary amines were obtained in up to 99 % conversion, as well as chiral amines directly from the racemic alcohol precursors in up to >97 % ee, releasing water as the only byproduct.