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一种重要方法。然而，传统的催化剂存在选择性差和需要有毒或有害试剂的缺点。然而，大自然利用酶解决了碳-碳键形成的问题。这些生物催化剂在温和的水条件下起作用，可以选择性地起作用，并且对环境的负面影响很小。在这个项目中，你将开发一种源自植物的碳-碳键形成的生物催化系统。您将使用各种异种系统表达和纯化酶，并合成潜在的底物。然后，您将检查生物催化系统的范围，探索条件和表征产品。你还将使用晶体学来确定酶的结构，然后使用诱变技术来设计酶。

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.