4-Hydroxy-2-keto acid derivatives are versatile building blocks for the synthesis of amino acids,h ydroxy carboxylic acids andc hiral aldehydes. Pyruvate aldolasesa re privileged catalysts for as traightforward access to this class of keto acid compounds.I nt his work, aC lass II pyruvate aldolase from Escherichia coli K-12, 2-keto-3-deoxy-lrhamnonate aldolase (YfaU), was evaluated for the synthesiso fa mino acid derivatives of proline,p ipecolic acid, andp yrrolizidine-3-carboxylic acid. The aldol addition of pyruvate to N-protected amino aldehydes wast he key enzymatic aldola ddition step followed by catalytic intramolecular reductivea mination. Thec orresponding N-Cbz-amino-4-hydroxy-2-keto acid (Cbz = benzyloxycarbonyl) precursors were obtained in 51-95% isolated yields and enantioselectivity ratios from 26:74 to 95:5, with chiral asubstituted N-Cbz-amino aldehydes.( S)-N-Cbzamino aldehydes gavea ldol adducts with preferentially (R)-configuration at the newly formed stereocenter, whereas the contrary is true for (R)-N-Cbzamino aldehydes.A ddition reactions to achiral amino aldehydesr enderedr acemic aldol adducts. Molecular models of the pre-reaction ternary complexesY faU-pyruvate enolate-acceptor aldehyde were constructed to explain the observeds tereochemical outcome of the reactions.C atalytic reductive amination of the aldol adducts yielded 4-hydroxy-2-pipecolic acid, and unprecedented C-5 substituted4 -hydroxyproline andp yrrolizidine-3-carboxylic acid derivatives.Keywords: aldol reaction; amino acids;a mino aldehydes; asymmetric catalysis;b iocatalysis; biotransformations;pyruvate aldolases Introduction 4-Hydroxy-2-keto acid derivatives are versatile building blocks for the synthesiso fa mino acids,h ydroxy carboxylic acids anda ldehydes among others.[1] Biocatalytic access to 4-hydroxy-2-ketoa cid moiety can be accomplished by means of pyruvate utilizing aldolases.[2]Pyruvate-dependent aldolases are ac lass of lyases that operate in sugar acid metabolism where they utilize pyruvatea st he common aldoln ucleophilic component. Practically all enzymes are type I( i.e., enamine intermediate as nucleophilic species) but there exist also some type II enzymes (i.e., metal cofactor, enolaten ucleophile) that have received less attention from the synthetic point of view.[3] Most of the Class I pyruvate-dependent aldolases,s uch as neuraminic acid aldolase (NeuAc), 2-keto-3-deoxy-6-phospho-dgluconate (GlcA) and 2-keto-3-deoxy-6-phospho-dgalactonate aldolases( GalA), usually have as tringent selectivity for the pyruvaten ucleophile and rather broad electrophiles electivity.H owever, only electrophiles equali ns ize or larger than aldopentoseso r phosphorylated short-chain aldehydes were substrates, whereasp olar, unphosphorylated short-chain aldehydesa re converted at low reaction rates and simple aliphatic or aromatica ldehydes are not substrates. [1a,4] Va riantso ft hese enzymes were identified with remarkable selectivity and catalytic efficiency for an umber of unnaturals ubstrates,a lthough st...