Enzymatic method for producing l-glufosinate and its phosphoesters

An enzymatically catalyzed method for producing L-glufosinate or a phosphoester thereof, the method comprising

• (a) reacting an activated L-homoserine HA with a substrate S of the following structure (I) to produce a compound of the following structure (III),
• wherein R1 is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, an alkyl, an alkenyl, an alkinyl, a hydroxyalkyl, and an aryl, and
• wherein the activated L-homoserine HA has the following structure (II):
• wherein R2 is a hydrocarbon group with 1 to 15 carbon atoms which optionally comprises at least one functional group selected from OH, COOH, NH, and
• wherein the reaction in (a) is catalyzed by at least one enzyme selected from the group consisting of a sulfhydrylase E1 and a cystathionine γ-synthase E2.