Abstract
The two worlds of organic synthesis that rely on reagents used in organic solvents and enzymes that function mainly in water can now be melded; both reaction types are amenable to sequential, multi-step processes run in an aqueous reaction medium made possible by the presence of a nonionic surfactant. The list of roles being played by micellar arrays derived from an amphiphile present in the aqueous reaction medium is growing, including (1) enabling a multitude of C–C, C–N, and C–H bond-forming reactions; (2) minimizing enzymatic inhibition by supplying an alternative site for products to relocate, clearing the entrance to enzymatic active sites; (3) shielding enzymes from denaturing metals by encouraging catalysts to localize within the lipophilic micellar interior; and (4) enhancing the rate of “directed evolution” due to their presence in the water. Challenges and opportunities: • Merging chemocatalysis and bio-catalysis in water as the common reaction medium offers potentially unlimited multi-step sequences utilizing both types of reactions in a single reaction vessel. • Minimal waste generation is guaranteed due to replacement of traditional organic solvents used for reactions that can now be enabled by micellar catalysis involving nanomicelles derived from designer surfactants that can play several roles. • The synthetic benefits associated with chemoenzymatic catalysis in water reflect a rediscovering of what nature has known throughout evolution: that the presence of various species, including micellar arrays in the water, may have assisted in the development of enzymatic catalysis, as they clearly do today. The merging of reagent-based synthesis with enzyme-catalyzed reactions is discussed using only water as the reaction medium. This is made possible simply due to the presence of a soap-like species, a tailor-made surfactant that enables both types of chemistry to be used in multi-step reaction sequences, all in the same reaction vessel, and all in water.
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