Enzymes as Catalysts in Synthetic Organic Chemistry [New Synthetic Methods (53)]

Abstract

Abstract Enzymes have great potential as catalysts for use in synthetic organic chemistry. Applications of enzymes in synthesis have so far been limited to a relatively small number of largescale hydrolytic processes used in industry, and to a large number of small‐scale syntheses of materials used in analytical procedures and in research. Changes in the technology for production of enzymes (in part attributable to improved methods from classical microbiology, and in part to the promise of genetic engineering) and for their stabilization and manipulation now make these catalysts practical for wider use in large‐scale synthetic organic chemistry. This paper reviews the status of the rapidly developing field of enzyme‐catalyzed organic synthesis, and outlines both present opportunities and probable future developments in this field.