Navigating the Unnatural Reaction Space: Directed Evolution of Heme Proteins for Selective Carbene and Nitrene Transfer.

ABSTRACT: Despite the astonishing diversity of naturally occurring biocatalytic processes, enzymes do not catalyze many of the transformations favored by synthetic chemists. Either nature does not care about the specific products, or if she does, she has adopted a different synthetic strategy. In many cases, the appropriate reagents used by synthetic chemists are not readily accessible to biological systems. Here, we discuss our efforts to expand the catalytic repertoire of enzymes to encompass powerful reactions previously known only in small-molecule catalysis: formation and transfer of reactive carbene and nitrene intermediates leading to a broad range of products, including products with bonds not known in biology. In light of the structural similarity of iron carbene (Fe═C(R¹)(R

SUBMITTER: Yang Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7931446 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature