Chemical Society Seminar: - Sabine Flitsch-Design and implementation of de novo biosynthetic cascades for organic synthesis

Abstract:

The combination of sequential biocatalytic reactions in non-natural synthetic cascades is a rapidly developing field and leads to the generation of complex valuable chemicals from simple precursors. (for a recent review see Nat Rev Methods Primers 2021, 1, 46). As the toolbox of available biocatalysts continues to expand, so do the options for biocatalytic retrosynthesis of a target molecule, leading to new routes employing enzymatic transformations. To facilitate the design stage, we have established RetroBioCat, a computer-aided synthesis planning tool for biocatalytic reactions and cascades (Nat Catal 2021, 4, 98). The implementation of such cascade reactions requires careful consideration, particularly with respect to whether the pathway is constructed in vitro or in vivo, in batch format or in flow (Angew Chem Int Ed 2021, 60(34), 18660). This lecture will showcase several successful de novo cascades and discuss the relative merits of in vitro, in vivo or hybrid approaches to building biocatalytic cascades.

Bio:

Sabine Flitsch is Professor at the School of Chemistry at the University of Manchester. She was educated in Germany, receiving her Diplom in Chemistry from the WWU Muenster and then obtained her DPhil under the supervision of Sir Jack Baldwin at Oxford University (UK). After three years as a postdoctoral fellow at MIT (USA) with Professor H.G. Khorana, she moved back to the UK, where she has held academic positions at the Universities of Oxford and Edinburgh, and moved to Manchester in 2005, where she currently holds a Chair in Chemical Biology. Sabine has served as associate editor of JACS AU since 2019.