Efficient synthesis of phosphatidylserine in 2-methyltetrahydrofuran

Abstract

2-Methyltetrahydrofuran has recently been described as a promising and green solvent. Herein, it was successfully used as the reaction medium for enzyme-mediated transphosphatidylation of phosphatidylcholine with L-serine with the aim of phosphatidylserine synthesis for the first time. Our results indicated that as high as 90% yield of phosphatidylserine could be achieved after 12 h combined with no byproduct (phosphatidic acid) forming. The present work accommodated a facilely and efficiently enzymatic strategy for preparing phosphatidylserine, which possessed obvious advantages over the reported processes in terms of high efficiency and environmental friendliness. This work is also a proof-of-concept opening the use of 2-methyltetrahydrofuran in biosynthesis as well.