Applications of Phenylalanine Ammonia Lyases in Synthesis: Access to Enantiopure Arylalanines from Laboratory Scale to Industrial Production

Phenylalanine ammonia lyase has played a key role in the sustainable production of non-natural amino acids as chiral building blocks for pharmaceutical applications, as demonstrated, for instance, by the production of (S)-2-indolinecarboxylic acid by DSM. In recent years, the cyanobacterial PAL from Anabaena variabilis has been shown to be a robust enzyme in biocatalytic reactions in terms of stability and substrate scope. This mini-review highlights the work conducted in our group, particularly in the scale-up and intensification of the PAL reaction and its application towards the synthesis of novel, high value chiral intermediates through chemo-enzymatic processes.