Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	GR/S22288/01
Title:	Faraday Fast Track: Deracemisation processes for the manufacture of chiral sulfoxides, hydroxylamines, hydrazines and alcohols
Principal Investigator:	Turner, Professor NJ
Other Investigators:	Fotheringham, Dr I
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:	AstraZeneca Avecia
Department:	Sch of Chemistry
Organisation:	University of Edinburgh
Scheme:	Faraday (PreFEC)
Starts:	01 April 2003	Ends:	30 September 2006	Value (£):	374,066
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Chemical Biology
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:	Chemicals Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology
Related Grants:
Panel History:
Summary on Grant Application Form
Deracemisation of racemic mixtures represents a powerful new strategy for the efficient and cost-effective manufacture of a wide range of chiral intermediates. The deracemisation approach, which involves the 'one-pot' combination of a chemical reducing/oxidising reagent with an enzyme, has been successfully applied in our laboratories to both L-and D-amino acids. More recently we have demonstrated for the first time that the method can be used for the deracemisation of chiral amines. We now propose to extend significantly the range of applications by developing equivalent systems for chiral hydroxylamines, hydrazines, alcohols and sulfoxides, compounds which constitute valuable intermediates in pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals. A key aspect of the current proposal will be the application of 'directed evolution' techniques to generate enzymes with optimised characteristics (e.g. enantioselectivity, solvent stability, substrate range, tolerance of high product concentration) for applications in large scale synthesis. Large libraries of variant enzymes will be created and screened for activity using a high-throughput colorometric method that has been developed in our laboratories. Enzymes posessing the desired properties will be further characterised and assessed for their use in deracemisation reactions. During this project we shallalso identify chemical reductants and oxidants that have the requisite characteristics to be used in conjunction with the biocatalysts.
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Organisation Website:	http://www.ed.ac.uk