Université de Montréal

Published purpose

Modern drug development relies on the preparation of important “chiral” building blocks. One strategy to access such molecules in a green and sustainable manner is to exploit enzyme biocatalysts. However, such catalysts often evolved to preform chemical reactions on very specific structures. To overcome such limitations for chemical synthesis, directed evolution of enzymes will be explored. An important goal will be to evolve enzymes that can link molecules with photoactive motifs. The transformation of molecules using light is a green and sustainable technology. Through the development of novel enzymes, the preparation of high value molecules can be streamlined and made environmentally friendly through tandem biocatalytic and photocatalytic processes.