Machine-Directed Evolution of an Imine Reductase for Activity and Stereoselectivity

Biocatalysis is an effective tool to access chiral molecules that are otherwise hard to synthesize or purify. Time-efficient processes are needed to develop enzymes that adequately perform the desired chemistry. We evaluated machine-directed evolution as an enzyme engineering strategy using a moderately stereoselective imine reductase as the model system. We compared machine-directed evolution approaches to deep mutational scanning (DMS) and error-prone PCR. Within one cycle, it was found that machine-directed evolution yielded a library of high-activity mutants with a dramatically shifted activity distribution compared to that of traditional directed evolution. Structure-guided analysis revealed that linear additivity might provide a simple explanation for the effectiveness of machine-directed evolution. The most active and selective enzyme mutant, which was identified through DMS and error-prone PCR, was used for the gram-scale synthesis of the H4 receptor antagonist ZPL389 with full conversion, > 99% ee (R), and a 72% yield.