| |
| author |
Justin S. Roskam
| | title |
Yeast Alcohol Dehydrogenase Catalyzed Reduction of Nitriles to Amines
| | abstract |
The role of yeast alcohol dehydrogenase (YADH) in producing ethanol during alcoholic
fermentation is well known thanks to the prominence of the brewing industry and scientific
interest in enzymology. However, its possible laboratory and industrial applications have not
been thoroughly explored. YADH naturally reduces acetaldehyde to ethanol via hydride attack, a
mechanism shared by powerful but environmentally adverse reducing agents such as LiAlH4.
Because of its chemically green nature and recyclability, YADH has been investigated in the past
to perform commercially useful reductions outside of its natural scope. One such reduction that
would be of interest but has not yet been studied is the reduction of nitriles to amines. The
conversion of nitriles to amines is a critical process with industrial, pharmaceutical, and
environmental relevance. In this investigation, we explored the potential of YADH to catalyze
the reduction of nitriles into amines. The nitriles acetonitrile, propionitrile, and butyronitrile were
converted into their corresponding amines by YADH. The reaction kinetics were measured
spectrophotometrically, and the detection of the amines was confirmed by gas chromatography–
mass spectrometry analysis.
| | school |
The College of Liberal Arts, Drew University
| | degree |
B.S. (2022)
|
| advisor |
Christopher Fazen
|
| committee |
Adam Cassano
Kimberly Choquette
|
| full text | JRoskam.pdf |
| |
