Biocatalysis: Enzymatic Synthesis for Industrial Applications

Biocatalysis is becoming ever more popular and prevalent in the synthesis of fine chemicals, agrochemicals and pharmaceuticals and is c becoming much more widely used in industrial chemical processes generally, so this review is very timely.

The review includes sections on the synthesis of “Alcohols”, “Amines”, “Carbonyls, Carboxylic acids and Derivatives”, “Glycosylation”, “Complex Molecules” and “Biocatalytic Reactions for Potential Industrialisation” and is an excellent summary of recent developments in the field and the current state of the art.

The final section on “Biocatalytic Reactions for Potential Industrialisation” looks at novel enzyme that have been discovered or rediscovered over the last 10 years which off new opportunities including Carboxylic Acid Reductases, Methylation and Demethylation reactions, Halogenation, Aldoxime Dehydratases and “New to Nature” Chemistry.  This last segment on “New to Nature” Chemistry includes some of the novel enzyme chemistry that has been developed via engineered biocatalysts such as Frances Arnold’s alkene cyclopropanation and olefin metathesis with an artificial metalloenzyme containing Grubbs catalyst.

The review is 30 pages long and includes 239 references.

  1. Wu, R. Snajdrova, J.C. Moore, K. Baldenius, and U.T. Bornscheuer, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2021, 60, 88-119.