Asymmetric bioreduction of ?-acylaminonitroalkenes: easy access to chiral building blocks with two vicinal nitrose-containing functional groups

The reduction of (Z)-?-acylaminonitroalkenes catalyzed by ene-reductases is described for the first time. The reaction occurs with a high conversion and excellent enantioselectivity and shows a wide substrate scope. The reduced products are valuable chiral synthons characterized by two vicinal nitrogen-containing functional groups that can be further modified by functional group inter-conversion thanks to the synthetic versatility of the nitro moiety. The chemo-enzymatic synthesis of (R)-N,N?-(1-phenylethane-1,2-diyl)diacetamide from easily accessible (Z)-N-(2-nitro-1-phenylvinyl)acetamide is herein reported as a representative application of this synthetic procedure.