Biotransformations in Organic Chemistry

1. Front Matter

   Pages I-XI

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2. Introduction and Background Information

   • Kurt Faber

   Pages 1-28

3. Biocatalytic Applications

   • Kurt Faber

   Pages 29-333

4. Special Techniques

   • Kurt Faber

   Pages 334-418

5. State of the Art and Outlook

   • Kurt Faber

   Pages 419-424

6. Appendix

   • Kurt Faber

   Pages 425-435

7. Back Matter

   Pages 436-455

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The use of natural catalysts - enzymes - for the transformation of non-natural man-made organic compounds is not at all new: they have been used for more than one hundred years, employed either as whole cells, cell organelles or isolated enzymes [1,2]. Certainly, the object of most of the early research was totally different from that of the present day. Thus the elucidation of biochemical pathways and enzyme mechanisms was the main reason for research some decades ago. It was mainly during the 1980s that the enormous potential of applying natural catalysts to transform non-natural organic compounds was recognized. What started as a trend in the late 1970s could almost be called a fashion in synthetic organic chemistry in the 1990s. Although the early euphoria during the 'gold rush' in this field seems to have eased somewhat, there is still no limit to be seen for the future development of such methods. As a result of this extensive, recent research, there have been an estimated 13 000 papers published on the subject. To collate these data as a kind of 'super-review' would clearly be an impossible task and, furthermore, such a hypothetical book would be unpalatable for the non-expert [3-7].

• Biokatalysator
• Biotechnologie
• Biotechnology
• Biotransformation
• Enzyme
• Organische Chemie
• biocatalysis
• chemistry
• enzymes
• organic chemistry

• Institute of Organic Chemistry, University of Graz, Graz, Austria

  Kurt Faber

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