Enzymatic removal of carboxyl protecting groups. 1. Cleavage of the tert-butyl moiety.

[reaction: see text] A recent discovery that a certain amino acid motif (GGG(A)X-motif) in lipases and esterases determines their activity toward tertiary alcohols prompted us to investigate the use of these biocatalysts in the mild and selective removal of tert-butyl protecting groups in amino acid derivatives and related compounds. An esterase from Bacillus subtilis (BsubpNBE) and lipase A from Candida antarctica (CAL-A) were identified as the most active enzymes, which hydrolyzed a range of tert-butyl esters of protected amino acids (e.g., Boc-Tyr-O(t)Bu, Z-GABA-O(t)Bu, Fmoc-GABA-O(t)Bu) in good to high yields and left Boc, Z, and Fmoc-protecting groups intact.