Green Synthesis of Hydroxamic Acid and Its Potential Industrial Applications

Abstract

Hydroxamic acids are the derivatives of hydroxylamine and carboxylic acid. These produce stable chelates with metal ions and are important constituents of several useful compounds. Generally, hydroxamic acids are synthesized through chemical route by N-alkylation of simple O-substituted hydroxylamine with a variety of alkylating agents. However, large-scale synthesis of hydroxamic acids by chemical route is not only expensive, but the product also contains several by-products as impurities. In the last two decades, several reports on enzymatic synthesis of hydroxamic acid using lipase, nitrilase, and amidase have been published. Enzyme-mediated synthesis of hydroxamic acid produces pure products even under mild conditions, specially temperature and pH. Hydroxamic acids find application as insecticides, antifungal agents, antimicrobials, siderophores and plant growth regulators, anti-HIV, antimalarial, antineoplastic agents, tumor suppressers, MMP inhibitors, and other robust applications in health care. These are also used in nuclear technology and wastewater treatment. Enzyme-mediated synthesis of hydroxamic acids and their various possible applications have been discussed in this chapter.