Developing novel enzymatic cascades for carbon-carbon bond formation

碳-碳键的选择性形成是合成化学和药物化学中的重要方法。然而，传统的催化剂存在选择性差和对有毒或危险试剂的要求。然而，大自然通过使用酶来解决碳-碳键的形成问题。这些生物催化剂在温和的含水条件下起作用，可以选择性地起作用，对环境的负面影响很小。在这个项目中，你将开发一种生物催化系统，用于最初来自植物的碳-碳键的形成。你将使用各种异源系统表达和纯化酶，并合成潜在的底物。然后，您将检查生物催化系统的范围，探索条件并对产品进行表征。你还将使用结晶学来确定酶的结构，然后用诱变来设计酶。

The selective formation of carbon-carbon bonds is a crucial method in synthetic and medicinal chemistry. However, traditional catalysts suffer from poor selectivity and the requirement for toxic or hazardous reagents. Nature, however, solves the problem of carbon-carbon bond formation by using enzymes. These biocatalysts act under mild, aqueous conditions, can act selectively, and have low negative environmental impact. In this project, you will develop a biocatalytic system for carbon-carbon bond formation originally derived from plants. You will express and purify enzymes using a variety of heterologous systems and synthesise potential substrates. Then, you will examine the scope of the biocatalytic system, exploring conditions and characterizing the products. You will also use crystallography to determine enzyme structures and then mutagenesis to engineer the enzymes.