L-2-aminobutyric acid is a kind of unnatural chiral α-amino acid, its molecular formula C4H9NO2, molecular weight 103.12, CAS number 1492-24-6, EINECS number 216-083-3, mainly used in the field of medicine as medical raw materials can be used for the synthesis of levetiracetam, ethambutol, and other drugs.
There are many methods to prepare L-2 aminobutyric acids, such as the aminotransferase method, amino acid oxidase method, dehydrogenase method, and chemical enzyme method. At present, the main production method of L-2 aminobutyric acid by aminotransferase method is to prepare L-2 aminobutyric acid with glutamic acid and ketoacid as raw materials in the past and get L-2 aminobutyric acid under the action of amino acid aminotransferase. The yield obtained by this method is low. Then, using threonine as raw material, L-2 aminobutyric acid was produced by three enzyme systems, which not only had low yield but also affected purification and produced by-products. The amino acid oxidase method requires the preparation of L-2 aminobutyric acid by D-amino acid oxidase under the action of the metal catalyst. This method has a high cost, cannot achieve large-scale production, and is not suitable for industrial production.