Biocatalytic asymmetric synthesis of unnatural amino acids through the cascade transfer of amino groups from primary amines onto keto acids

Flee to the hills: An unfavorable equilibrium in the amino group transfer between amino acids and keto acids catalyzed by α-transaminases was successfully overcome by coupling with a ω-transaminase reaction as an equilibrium shifter, leading to efficient asymmetric synthesis of diverse unnatural amino acids, including L-tert-leucine and D-phenylglycine.