Enzymes are nature’s catalysts for performing chemical transformations and generating structurally complex and functionally important molecules. Mankind has been fascinated by nature’s ability to evolve enzymes for various functions; numerous enzymes have been discovered in nature that perform a myriad of chemical reactions, some of which are difficult to mimic under synthetic conditions. With the clean and sustainable nature of biocatalysis, it is beneficial to utilize these transformations as powerful tools in organic synthesis. However, a substantial fraction of natural enzymes are not heterologously stable or expressible in common bacterial hosts, which limits biological studies and synthetic applications of these enzymes and is one of the major challenges of biocatalysis. So far, only a small number of enzymatic reactions can be reliably performed at industrial scale. Some enzymes can be used on laboratory scale to prepare challenging molecular structures, but the reaction types are still limited compared to small-molecule catalysis. Furthermore, many enzymes have exquisite substrate specificity, hindering their use with different substrates.

To expand the repertoire of enzymatic transformations and generate efficient synthetic strategies based on existing biocatalytic methods, my research group will focus on engineering enzymes for new-to-nature activities and developing chemoenzymatic cascade reactions. Specifically, my research program can be divided into three parts:

I. Developing novel chemoenzymatic cascade reactions to construct challenging structural motifs.

II. Repurposing enzymes for new activities through engineering techniques. III. Developing transition metal-catalyzed reactions for chemoenzymatic processes.

III. Developing transition metal-catalyzed reactions for chemoenzymatic processes.