Future Directions of Modern Organic Synthesis

• Published in: From Biosynthesis to Total Synthesis pp. 519 - 547
• Main Authors: Pletz, Jakob, Breinbauer, Rolf
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken, NJ John Wiley & Sons, Inc 22.04.2016
• Subjects: biocatalysis; bioengineering; biosynthetic methods; organic synthesis
• ISBN: 1118751736; 9781118751732
• DOI: 10.1002/9781118754085.ch15

This chapter highlights some recent applications for future directions of modern organic synthesis, which demonstrate that the integration of biocatalytic steps can improve the elegance and synthetic efficiency dramatically. Complex natural products are produced from simple starting materials available in form of sugars, fatty acids, or amino acids as carbon sources and converted to complex structures using multistep synthesis using a series of enzymes, which sometimes enable amazing transformations even in the context of highly functionalized substrates. It would be attractive if one could integrate such enzymes in organic synthesis and combine the advantages of chemical and biosynthetic methods. The chapter indicates the potential of bioengineering for the synthesis of natural products and its analogs. Biocatalysis and bioengineering will become efficient tools, which will be integrated into synthetic sequences like other techniques such as photochemistry, electrochemistry, or transition metal catalysis.