Enzyme-Assisted Synthesis of High-Purity, Chain-Deuterated 1-Palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine

[Image: see text] 1-Palmitoyl-d(31)-2-oleoyl-d(32)-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC-d(63)) with the palmitoyl and oleoyl chains deuterium-labeled was produced in three steps from 1-palmitoyl-2-hydroxy-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine, deuterated palmitic acid, and deuterated oleic anhydride. Esterification at the sn-2 position was achieved under standard chemical conditions, using DMAP to catalyze the reaction between the 2-lysolipid and oleic anhydride-d(64). Complete regioselective sn-1 acyl substitution was achieved in two steps using operationally simple, enzyme-catalyzed regioselective hydrolysis and esterification to substitute the sn-1 chain for a perdeuterated analogue. This method provides chain-deuterated POPC with high chemical purity (>96%) and complete regiopurity, useful for a variety of experimental techniques. This chemoenzymatic semisynthetic approach is a general, modular method of producing highly pure, mixed-acyl phospholipids, where the advantages of both chemical synthesis (efficiency, high yields) and biocatalytic synthesis (specificity, nontoxicity) are realized.