The application of the Ugi reaction to the construction of new peptide scaffolds is an important goal of organic chemistry. To date, there are no examples of the Ugi reaction being performed with a cyclic imine and amine simultaneously. The application of 2-substituted cyclic imines in an enzymatic three-component Ugi-type reaction provides an elegant and attractive synthesis of substituted pyrrolidine and piperidine derivatives in up to 60 % yield. Results on studies of the selection of an enzyme, amount of water, and solvent used in a novel three-component Ugi reaction and the limitations thereof are reported herein. The presented methodology exploiting enzyme promiscuity in the multicomponent reaction fulfills the requirements associated with green chemistry. Several methods, such as isotope labeling and enzyme inhibition, were used to probe the possible mechanism of this complex synthesis. This research is the first example of an enzyme-catalyzed Ugi-type reaction with an imine, amine, and isocyanide.
Keywords: enzyme catalysis; heterocycles; imines; multicomponent reactions; synthesis design.
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