Zeitschrift für Proteomik und Enzymologie

Ring-Hydroxylating Dioxygenases: Biocatalysts with Remarkable Substrate Specificity and Exquisite Product Stereochemistry

Christopher C. R. Allen

Any researcher in the field of biocatalysts will be aware of the significant advantages associated with the use of enzymes in organic synthesis: Product stereo- and regio- specificity, exceptional substrate specificity, application to green synthesis and, significantly, amenability to modification through application of protein engineering techniques such as directed evolution.Many biocatalysts are now more widely used in industry, and representatives from diverse enzyme classes are evident. The oxygenase enzymes are an important biocatalyst group – the cytochrome P450 enzymes that catalyze alkene epoxidations, being especially well known.