On the Synthesis of the FeMo Cofactor of Nitrogenase: Gene‐Controlled in Nature versus Laboratory‐Produced by Man

Abstract

AbstractOne of the primary challenges of chemistry is the controlled synthesis of compounds with tailor‐made structures and properties. Natural products serve as inspiration in this quest, ranging from biocatalysts with optimal selectivity and activity to “inorganic materials” with exceptional properties, whose generation can be described by the term biomineralization. It is of fundamental importance to comprehend the courses of events at the interface between gene expression and the subsequent processes of epigenesis that are no longer under gene control. Chemistry has been able to achieve many goals; however, in the area of controlled syntheses of highly complex, tailor‐made metal clusters, there is a lack of fundamental theories and principles. This is especially true for the fascinating metal–sulfur cluster of nitrogenase, which, in this enzyme, functions as the active center for the N2 reduction and, so far, has eluded all attempts to be synthesized in the laboratory. To understand the biosynthesis of this cluster, information from genetics and chemistry must be combined.